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I  PRIVATE  LIBRARY  I 

— — OF 

JAMES    H.    BURKE. 


GIFT   OF 
Mr.    James   S.   Porter 


IV 

l.vsii.  LETnrOBTONl 


ILLUSTRATED  LIBRARY  OF  TRAVEL 


TRAVELS   IN 


SOUTH    AFRICA 


COMPILED  AND  ARRANGED  BY 


BAYARD    TAYLOR 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

743  &  745  Broadway 

1881 


COPYRIGHT  BY 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1881 


■DT7-3/ 


CONTENTS 


-♦» 


CHAPTER  I. 

r\am 
South  Africa.— Its  Discovery  and  Settlement    .       .       1 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Native  Tribes  of  South  Africa     ....      13 

CHAPTER  III. 
Moffat's  Missionary  Journeys  ......      25 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Livingstone's  Discovery  of  Lake  No  ami       .       .       .41 

CHAPTER  V. 
Livingstone's  First  Journey  to  the  Zambesi      .       .      54 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Anderson's    Journey   to   the    Ovampo    Land     and 

Lake  Ngami 68 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Anderson's  Journey  to  the  Okavango  River      .       .     82 

,     CHAPTER  VIII. 

LrVTNGSTONE'8      JOURNEY      ACROSS      THE      CONTINENT. — 

I.-TO  THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY 90 


M£97£15 


CONTENTS. 

I 

CHAPTER  IX. 

MOB 

Livingstone's    Journey    Across    the    Continent. — 

II.- Voyage  up  the  Zambesi  River         .        .       .122 

CHAPTER  X. 
Livingstone's    Journey    Across    tue    Continent. — 

Ill.-Ur  the  Leei  a  River 1 13 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Livingstone's    Journey    Across    the    Continent.— 

IV. -From  Shinte  to  Loanda 177 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Livingstone's    Journey    Across    the    Continent. — 

V. -Return  to  the  Makololo  Country         .       .    204 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Livingstone's    Journey    Across    the    Continent.— 

VI.-Down  the  Zambesi  to  the  Eastern  Coast  .    234 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Magyar's  Journey  to  Bihe 258 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Magyar's  Journeys  in  the  Interior       ...  269 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Livingstone's  Expedition  to  Lake  Nyassa   .       .       .284 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Livingstone's  Last  Journey 801 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


♦ 

PAGB 


David  Livingstone   ...  ...       Fionthpiece. 

Cape  Town 6 

Namaqua  Musician .16 

Moshech,  Chief  of  Bassutos 20 

Thaba  Bossin 24 

Hippopotamus  Trap      ........  40 

Livingstone  attacked  by  a  Lion 44 

Anderson  starting  out 68 

South  African  Watering-place 77 

Anderson's  Journey  across  the  Burning  Prairie       .  88 

"Behold!  a  White  Man"     ...                 ...  95 

A  Hippopotamus  Family     ...                 ...  120 

Moonlight  Dance  of  the  Natives 140 

Halt  under  the  Baobab     .        .        .                 .        .        .  176 

Pass  of  Pungo  Adongo 200 

Head-dresses  of  Londa 215 

Hippopotamus  Upsetting  a  Boat 228 

Village  of  Skulls 231 

Falls  of  the  Zambesb 239 

St.  Paul  de  Loanda 254 

Magyar's  Ascent  of  the  Coast  Range      .        .        .        .261 

An  Expedition  from  Bihe 281 

Zanzibar 302 


TRAVELS  1jSt  SOUTH  AFRIOA. 


CHAPTEPv  I. 

SOUTH    AFRICA. — ITS   DISCOVERY    AND    SETTLEMENT. 

rp HE  fact  that  the  northern  part  of  Africa  was  well 
-L  known  to  the  civilized  nations  of  antiquity  gave 
rise  to  very  early  attempts  to  explore  the  dimensions 
of  that  continent.  The  first  authentic  record  of  such 
an  attempt  is  given  by  Herodotus,  who  relates  that 
Pharaoh  Necho  (about  GOO  years  before  the  Christian 
era)  sent  an  expedition  down  the  Red  Sea,  with  orders 
to  sail  around  what  was  then  considered  to  be  an  island, 
reaching  to  the  latitude  of  the  Equator.  The  vessels 
sailed  until  the  autumn,  landed,  sowed  grain,  waited 
until  they  had  reaped  the  harvest,  and  then  sailed 
further.  In  the  third  year  of  their  voyage  they  reached 
the  Pillars  of  Hercules  (Gibraltar),  and  returned  to 
Egypt  with  the  intelligence,  which  Herodotus  utterly 
discredits,  that  they  had  seen  the  sun  in  the  north. 
This  circumstance,  alone,  seems  to  be  sufficient  proof 
that  the  Egyptians  really  circumnavigated  Africa. 

The  second  attempt,  of  which  we  have  a  more  par- 
ticular description,  was  made  by   the  Carthaginians, 
about  the  year  500  B.  C,  when  the  famous  Admiral 
1 1  anno  tet  out  0:1   his   voyage  of  colonization,  some 
1 


2  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

account  of  which  is  preserved  to  us  in  the  fragments 
of  his  Periplus.  He  sailed  with  sixty  vessels,  carrying 
three  thousand  colonists  of  both  sexes,  with  a  rich  sto  "e 
of  provisions  and  implements  of  labor.  Coasting  for 
two  days  southward  from  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  he 
founded  the  first  colony,  and  built,  upon  a  woodc  J 
headland  near  it,  a  stately  temple  to  Neptune.  Still 
further  to  the  south, — but  at  what  point  we  cannot 
now  ascertain, — he  found  a  large  lake,  frequented  by 
elephants  and  other  wild  beasts,  and,  beyond  this, 
founded  four  other  colonies.  Near  this  place  the  great 
river  "Lixus,"  coming  down  from  the  Atlas  moun- 
tains, emptied  into  the  ocean. 

After  a  further  voyage  of  three  days  along  a  des- 
ert coast,  lie  readied  a  bay  with  an  island,  and  there 
established  the  last  colony,  which  was  named  Cerne. 
lie  reckoned  that  its  distance  from  the  Pillars  cf 
Hercules  was  about  the  same  as  from  that  point  to 
Carthage.  From  Cerne,  as  a  starting-point,  voyagei 
of  exploration  were  made  still  further  to  the  south. 
They  found  great  rivers,  tenanted  by  the  crocodile 
and  the  hippopotamus;  savage  negro  tribes,  partly 
clothed  with  the  skins  of  beasts;  great  forests,  from 
which  flame  arose  at  night,  and  whore  they  heard  the 
sound  of  cymbals  and  drums;  and  finally,  on  an  island 
near  the  shore,  strange,  hairy  creatures,  resembling 
men,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  gorillaa.  These 
monsters  fled  as  they  approached,  clambered  upon  the 
rocks  and  hurled  stones  upon  the  explorers.  The 
latter  captured  throe  females,  which  were  bo  ferocious 
that  they  were  obliged  to  kill  them  ;  but  their  aklOl 
were  sent  to  Carthage. 


ITS  DISCO  VER  Y  AND  SE  TTLEMENT.  % 

Modern  geographers  are  divided  in  opinion  as  to 
the  furthest  point  reached  by  Hanno,  some  limiting 
his  explorations  to  the  southern  boundary  of  Morocco, 
while  others  extend  them  to  the  Bight  of  Benin.  The 
evidence  is  tolerably  conclusive  that  he  must  have 
penetrated  as  far,  at  least,  as  the  Gambia  River. 

The  next  attempt  was  made  about  the  year  130 
B.  C.  by  a  Greek  navigator,  named  Eudoxus.  On  his 
trading  voyages  to  India  he  had  seen  the  eastern  coast 
of  Africa,  where  it  trends  to  the  south-west,  beyond 
Cape  Gardafui ;  and  he  naturally  imagined  (being 
also  familiar,  probably,  with  the  account  of  the  Egyp- 
tian expedition  given  by  Herodotus)  that  it  might  be 
but  a  short  journey  around  the  continent  to  Gibraltar. 
His  plan  was  heartily  encouraged  by  the  merchants  of 
Marseilles  and  Cadiz,  then  important  trading-ports; 
two  large  vessels  were  furnished,  and  a  crowd  of  vol- 
unteers offered  themselves  for  the  expedition.  But 
the  latter  resisted  the  efforts  of  Eudoxus  to  sail  at  a 
safe  distance  from  the  land ;  they  compelled  him  to 
keep  near  the  coast,  and  the  larger  of  the  two  vessels 
was  soon  stranded,  as  he  had  predicted.  The  crew 
and  cargo  were  rescued,  and  from  the  fragments  of  the 
vessel  he  constructed  a  smaller  one,  with  which  he 
continued  the  voyage  until  he  reached  a  tribe  of  people 
who  apparently  spoke  the  same  language  as  those  he 
had  seen  on  the  eastern  coast.  Here,  however,  he 
was  obliged  to  return.  He  succeeded  in  fitting  out  a 
second  expedition,  but  there  is  no  record  whatever  of 
its  results,  and  Eudoxus  is  only  mentioned  by  Strabo 
as  a  fantastic  adventurer — a  Munchausen  of  the  ancien 
times. 


i  TKA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

The  knowledge  of  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa  ex- 
tended, as  the  commerce  with  India  increased.  The 
trade  in  ivory  led  the  vessels  which  navigated  the  Red 
Se.i  ever  further  to  the  south,  until,  from  the  rela- 
tions of  Ptolemy,  it  seems  probable  that  they  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi  River,  and  may  possibly 
have  attained  the  southern  extremity  of  the  continent, 
without'  being  aware  of  the  discovery. 

The  trade  in  ivory,  gold,  and  slaves,  along  the  east- 
ern coast,  was  kept  up  by  the  Arabs  during  the  Mid- 
dle Ages.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  evidence  to  show 
that  they  had  a  regular  intercourse  with  the  regions 
of  Zanzibar  and  Mozambique,  which  was  afterward 
extended  to  Caffraria.  Indeed,  the  intellectual  supe- 
riority of  the  Kafters  over  the  other  native  tribes  of 
South  Africa,  is  attributed  by  some  ethnologists  to  a 
mixture  of  Arabic  blood.  Their  language  still  con- 
tains words  of  Arabic  origin. 

But  the  complete  exploration  of  the  African  coast 
was  reserved  for  Portugal.  The  rapid  growth  of  Por- 
tuguese commerce,  about  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  together  with  the  wars  with  Morocco,  which 
occasioned  the  sending  out  of  naval  expeditions,  led  to 
the  rediscovery  of  the  Canary  Islands  in  1420,  and 
made  the  navigators  familiar  with  the  mainland,  as 
fir  as  Cape  Bojador.  This  point  was  looked  upon  as 
one  of  the  ends  of  the  world;  and  when,  in  1  I 
the  intrepid  Gilianez,  sailed  beyond  it,  his  achie 
ment  exdted  almost  as  much  wonder  and  enthusiasm 
as  the  great  discovery  of  Columbus,  sixty  years  after- 
wards. 

In  ten   years  more  the   Portuguese  had   reached 


ITS  DISCO  VER  Y  AND  SE  TTLEMENT.  5 

Cape  Blanco,  and  made  a  settlement  on  an  island  near 
it.  Furnished  by  the  Pope  with  authority  to  possess 
themselves  of  all  the  lands  beyond  Cape  Bojador,  they 
very  soon  found  the  fertile  regions  of  Senegal,  and 
were  stimulated  by  the  double  prospect  of  enriching 
themselves  with  gold-dust  and  ivory,  and  of  extending 
their  rule  over  new  tribes,  who  must  first,  of  course, 
be  forcibly  converted  to  Christianity.  The  death  of 
Prince  Henry  the  Navigator,  whose  interest  in  these 
undertakings  had  contributed  so  greatly  to  their  suc- 
cess, checked  the  advance  of  exploration, — but  only  for 
a  short  time.  Fernando  Gomez  was  commissioned  by 
the  king  to  extend  the  line  of  explored  coast  one  hun- 
dred miles  a  year,  for  five  years,  and  thereby  reached 
the  Gold  Coast  in  1471.  The  island  of  Fernando  Po 
was  reached  soon  afterwards,  and  in  148-i  Diego  Cam 
sailed  into  the  mouth  of  the  great  Congo  liiver,  estab- 
lished friendly  relations  with  the  kingdom  of  that 
name,  and  introduced  Christianity.  During  nearly 
two  centuries,  Congo  and  Angola  appeared  to  be  thor- 
oughly Christianized,  but  they  have  since  relapsed  into 
their  former  condition  of  pagan  barbarism. 

The  line  of  Portuguese  exploration  was  very  grad- 
ually pushed  southward,  until  Bartholomew  Diaz  first 
saw  the  great  mountain-cape  with  which  Africa  fronts 
the  Southern  Ocean.  Terrified  by  the  stormy  sky, 
the  furious  winds,  and  the  great  waves  formed  by 
the  meeting  of  two  strong  ocean-currents,  he  turned 
back,  naming  the  headland  the  Cape  of  Storms,  and 
hastened  with  his  shattered  vessels  to  Portugal.  The 
king,  however,  changed  the  name  to  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  rightly  believing  that  the  ocean-road  to  Indie 


C  TRA  VEL S  IN  SOU 7 II  A FKICA . 

was  at  last  found.  In  1498  his  belief  was  justified  by 
Vasco  de  Gama,  who  doubled  the  dreaded  Cape,  fol- 
lowed the  eastern  eoast  to  Mozambique  and  Melinda, 
and  reached  India. 

The  commercial  spirit  of  the  Portuguese,  however, 
was  only  attracted  by  the  regions  on  the  eastern  and 
western  coasts  of  Africa,  which  supplied  their  trade  in 
gold,  ivory,  and  slaves.  The  extreme  southern  part  of 
the  continent,  with  its  wild  shores,  bare  plains,  and 
savage  Hottentot  inhabitants,  did  not  tempt  them  to 
colonize  it.  Their  vessels  on  the  voyage  to  and  from 
India,  occasionally  touched  at  the  Cape  for  fresh  water 
and  cattle,  but  they  had  little  intercourse  with  the  na- 
tives, evcept  of  a  hostile  character. 

The  Dutch,  who  had  become,  in  the  course  of  an- 
other century,  the  commercial  rivals  of  the  Portuguese 
in  the  Indies,  were  the  first  to  perceive  the  importance 
of  establishing  a  permanent  station  at  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  Africa,  where  their  ships  could  find  supplies 
on  the  long  voyage  to  the  East.  In  1630,  Van  Iiie- 
beck  built  a  fort  on  Table  Bay,  which  was  the  first 
germ  of  the  present  Capetown.  His  only  object  was 
to  establish  a  stopping-place  for  Dutch  vessels,  and  the 
garrison  took  pains  to  conciliate  the  native  tribes,  since 
they  found  the  intercourse  exceedingly  profitable. 
Little  by  little,  however,  the  Dutch  embraced  in  their 
claim  the  land  surrounding  the  fort,  began  raising  their 
own  herds  of  cattle,  cultivating  the  soil,  and  even  for- 
cibly making  slaves  of  the  natives.  By  the  beginning 
of  the  last  century  they  had  obtained  possession  of  sev- 
eral thousand  miles  of  territory.  The  boundaries  of 
this   colony   were  subjected  to   constant  attacks,    but 


ITS  DISCO  VER  Y  A  AW  SE  T 'ELEMENT.  % 

the   weaker  races   were   wasted   in   the  warfare,  and 
slowly  receded,  as  on  our  own  western  frontier. 

After  a  time,  farmers  and  mechanics  began  to  emi- 
grate from  Holland  to  the  settlement,  and  in  1685, 
many  of  the  Huguenots  who  were  driven  from  France, 
found  their  way  thither.  The  discovery  was  made  that 
a  district  near  Capetown  was  remarkably  favorable  to 
the  growth  of  the  vine,  and  those  vineyards  were 
planted  which  have  since  then  produced  the  famous 
Constantia  wine.  The  growth  of  the  colony,  neverthe- 
less, was  restricted  to  the  narrow  belt  of  fertile  country 
south  of  the  mountain  ranges,  which  cross  South  Af- 
rica in  a  line  nearly  parallel  to  its  southern  coast.  The 
broad,  barren  table-land  of  the  Karroo  seemed  to  be  a 
bar  to  settlement  in  that  direction,  and  the  great  val- 
ley of  the  Orange  River,  beyond,  had  not  then  been 
discovered. 

The  Orange  Eiver  was  first  discovered  by  Capt. 
Gordon,  in  1777.  The  English,  who  had  long  cast 
covetous  eyes  upon  the  Cape-land,  captured  Capetown 
and  the  adjacent  territory  in  1795.  Although  they 
relinquished  this  acquisition  in  the  Treaty  of  Amiens, 
they  retook  it  in  1806,  and  held  possession,  until  by 
the  peace  of  1815,  they  secured  it  permanently.  Un- 
der their  rule,  the  work  of  exploration  went  forward 
more  rapidly,  partly  by  means  of  adventurers  who 
sought  fields  of  future  gain,  and  partly  by  the  mission- 
aries sent  from  Scotland.  The  course  and  extent  of 
the  Orange  River  was  soon  ascertained,  and  the  land 
cf  the  Bechuanas  beyond,  with  its  capital  of  Lattakoo 
was  reached  in  1813  by  the  missionary  John  Campbell 
The  area  of  colonized  territory   was   also  slowlv   ex 


8  TA'A  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

tended  to  the  eastward  and  northward,  and  other  towns 
were  founded  along  or  near  the  coast. 

The  Dutch  population,  who,  after  a  century  of 
settlement,  had  fallen  into  their  own  traditional  habitr 
of  life,  were  greatly  dissatisfied  with  the  new  rule. 
After  the  possession  of  the  territory  had  been  assured 
to  England,  officials  were  sent  out  who  were  ignorant 
of  the  condition  and  needs  of  the  country,  and  whuse 
chief  aim  was  to  enrich  themselves  as  speedily  as  possi- 
ble. The  old  order  of  things  was  roughly  overturned : 
the  natives  were  treated  according  to  a  different  svs- 
tern,  and  finally,  the  abolition  of  Hottentot  slavery,  in 
in  1829,  seemed  to  the  Boers  (farmers)  a  fatal  blow  to 
their  prosperity.  Moreover,  those  living  on  the  fron- 
tier were  forbidden  to  carry  on  their  old  warfare 
against  the  assaults  of  the  savage  tribes,  yet  no  equiva- 
lent military  protection  was  furnished  to  them. 

All  these  causes  of  dissatisfaction  led  to  a  move- 
ment which,  in  the  end,  greatly  hastened  the  explora- 
tion of  Southern  Africa.  The  Dutch  farmers  deter- 
mined to  withdraw  themselves  from  English  rule. 
They  sold  their  cultivated  farms  to  English  settlers 
and  speculators,  often  at  a  small  fraction  of  their  real 
value,  equipped  themselves  for  emigration,  and  in  L836 
set  out,  several  thousand  in  number,  to  seek  a  new 
home  beyond  the  Orange  River.  They  knew  of  the 
fertile  regions  stretching  from  the  upper  valley  of 
that  river  towards  Delagoa  Bay  on  the  eastern  coast, — 
regions  which  had  been  almost  entirely  depopulated  in 
the  wars  of  the  native  tribes, — and  also  of  nearer  dis- 
tricts, on  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Winterberg.  A. 
this  great  body  of  emigrants  penetrated   towards  the 


ITS  DISCO  VER  Y  AND  SE  TTLEMENT.  9 

north,  they  found  few  difficulties  in  their  way ;  but 
those  who  turned  eastward  came  into  conflict  with  the 
fierce  KafFer  tribes.  In  the  following  year,  however, 
Praetorius,  one  of  the  Dutch  leaders,  defeated  the 
Katfer  chief  Dingaan,  took  possession  of  his  land  and 
organized  the  Free  State  of  Natal.  The  Boers  who 
had  settled  on  the  western  slopes  of  the  mountain 
chain  formed  a  separate  government,  which  they 
called  the  Republic  of  the  Orange  River. 

The  success  of  the  Boers  in  establishing  two  inde- 
pendent States  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Eng- 
lish Government,  which  determined  to  bring  them  again 
under  its  rule.  From  the  circumstance  that  an  English 
settlement  had  been  made  in  Natal  (although  it  was 
afterwards  given  up),  the  Government  laid  claim  to 
the  possession  of  that  territory,  appointed  officials  of 
all  kinds,  and  sent  them  with  ships  of  war  to  enforce 
their  authority.  The  Dutch  both  protested  and  actively 
resisted,  but  they  were  finally  overcome,  some  accept- 
ing the  English  rule,  while  others  left  their  homes  a  sec- 
ond time  and  withdrew  into  the  wilderness.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1843,,  Natal  was  declared  to  be  a  British  colony. 

Soon  afterwards,  the  English  applied  the  same  plan 
of  annexation  to  the  Orange  River  Republic,  but  the 
civil  officers  they  sent  to  replace  the  republican  gov- 
ernment which  the  Dutch  had  established  were  im- 
mediately driven  away.  Then  an  armed  force  fol- 
lowed :  the  Dutch,  under  Praetorius,  resisted,  until,  in 
August,  1848,  at  the  battle  of  Boom-Plats,  the  latter 
were  defeated  with  much  slaughter.  The  same  results 
followed,  as  in  the  case  of  Natal ;  some  submitted  to 
the  conquering  power,  while  others,  with  Praetorius  at 


10  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

their  head,  wandered  away  to  the  north,  crossed  the 
Vaal  River,  the  main  branch  of  the  Orange,  took  pos 

ion  of  the  mountainous  region,  dividing  its  waters 
from  those  of  the  Limpopo,  and  founded  that  indepeo 
dent  State  which  is  now  known  as  the  Transvaal 
Republic. 

In  1854  the  English  Government  wisely  decided 
to  give  up  the  Orange  River  sovereignty,  as  it  was 
termed,  and  restore  its  independence  to  the  little  re- 
public. Thus  the  heroic  Boers,  after  their  long  wan- 
derings and  their  desperate  struggle  for  liberty  to  r 
late  their  own  affairs,  were  at  last  successful ;  but  their 
subsequent  history  has  been  leas  favorable  to  their  char- 
acter. After  the  death  of  President  Pnvtorius,  the 
Transvaal  Republic,  in  1858,  broke  out  into  open  hos- 
tility against,  that  of  Orange  River;  party  hatred  and  jeal- 
ousy seem  to  be  as  great  in  these  little  communities 
as  in  large-  nations,  and  at  this  day,  although  both  have 
increased  in  population  and  prosperity,  there  has  been 
little  improvement  in  the  character  of  their  inhabi- 
tants, wli<>  are  charged  by  the  English  with  continual 
violence    and    cruelty  towards   the    native  tribes.      It 

should  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  Dutch  in 

South    Africa,  after  an   intercourse  of  a  hundred   and 
tit't\  ith  the  latter,  cannot  avoid  retaining  some 

of  their  characteristics.  Their  own  development  has 
been  retarded,  and  they  have  been  rendered  less  ac 
Sible  to  the  Influences  of  modern  civilization.  The 
:it  discovery  of  the  diamond  fields,  whieh  lie 
Chiefly  within  the  territories  of  the  two  republics,  and 
of  the  rich  gold  region  beyond  the  Limpopo,  will  no 
doubt  greatly  hapten  their  growth,  and  gradually  wear 


ITS  DISCO  VER  Y  AND  SETTLEMEN  T.  t  \ 

away  tlie  bitter  mutual  prejudice  between  them  and 
their  English  neighbors. 

The  last  tifty  years,  it  will  be  seen,  have  contributed 
more  to  the  opening  of  South  Africa,  as  a  home  for  civ- 
ilized man,  than  the  three  centuries  of  Portuguese  and 
Dutch  rule,  after  the  voyage  of  Vasco  de  Gama.  The 
English  colony  of  the  Cape  increases  much  more 
slowly  than  those  in  Australia,  New  Zealand,  and 
other  parts  of  the  world,  especially  since  communication 
with  the  latter  colonies  has  been  more  speedily  made  by 
way  of  Suez  and  Panama ;  but  its  growth  appears  to 
be  steady  and  healthy.  It  claims  possession  of  the  coast 
from  Whale  Bay  around  to  Delagoa  Bay  on  the  east, 
and  of  the  interior  territory,  with  the  exception  of  a 
few  small  Kaffer  or  Bushmen  sovereignties.  Capetown 
has  become  a  stately,  well-built  place  of  30,000  inhab- 
itants, while  Georgetown,  Grahamstown,  and  Pori 
Natal  are  all  flourishing  towns.  The  entire  popula- 
tion of  the  colony  is  about  225,000. 

The  two  Dutch  republics  open  a  communication 
far  into  the  interior,  and  greatly  facilitate  its  explora- 
tion. That  of  Orange  River  embraces  the  broad  region 
between  the  upper  valley  of  that  river  and  its  main 
tributary,  the  Yaal, — great  plains  of  grass,  broken  with 
ridges  of  naked  rock.  It  is  a  lofty,  irregular  table-land, 
with  a  healthy  and  equable  climate.  The  Boers  de- 
vote themselves  principally  to  the  raising  of  sheep  and. 
cattle  on  the  plains ;  in  the  valleys  nearer  the  moun- 
tains there  are  large  plantations  of  grain  and  orchards 
cf  fruit.  The  capital  of  the  republic,  Bloemfontain,  ia 
a  well-built  town  of  about  200  houses,  and  2,500  in- 
habitants; but   the  whole  population  of  the  repubJe 


12  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

is  not  much  more  than  20,000  at  present,  including 
5,000  natives. 

The  territory  of  the  Transvaal  Republic  is  much 
more  extensive.  Towards  the  north  it  reaches  the 
Limpopo  River,  but  there  is  no  fixed  frontier,  and  it 
will  probably  be  pushed  onward  towards  the  Zambesi, 
with  the  growth  of  the  country.  Commencing  near 
the  Vaal,  with  the  same  grassy  plains  as  in  the  south- 
ern republic,  the  land  rises  into  ranges  of  hills,  between 
which  lie  broad  valleys,  with  thickets,  woods,  and 
abundant  streams.  The  soil  is  equally  adapted  for  pas- 
turage and  tillage.  On  account  of  the  greater  mild- 
ness of  the  climate,  all  kinds  of  fruit,  especially  grapes 
and  oranges,  attain  an  unusual  perfection.  Beyond  the 
mountains  to  the  northward  the  climate  becomes  trop- 
ical and  unhealthy,  and  the  tsetse — that  fly  whose  bite 
is  fatal  to  cattle — is  found.  Of  late  years  the  cultiva- 
tion of  sugar  and  coffee  has  been  successfully  introduced, 
and  the  population  somewhat  increased  by  an  immigra- 
tion of  farmers  and  herdsmen  from  Scotland  ;  but  it  is 
still  scanty,  Potschefstrom,  the  capital,  containing  only 
about  a  thousand  souls.  Trade  is  carried  on  chiefly 
with  the  settlement  on  Delagoa  Bay,  which  is  a  little 
Dearer  than  Port  Natal. 

The  discovery  of  diamond-fields  and  coal-mines  in 
the  Transvaal  Republic,  and  of  a  gold  region  to  the 
north  of  the  Umpopo,  promises  to  change  the  charac- 
ter of  the  country  in  a  very  short  time.  Indeed,  these 
qcw  sources  of  wealth  have  already  given  a  fresh  im- 
portance to  South  Africa,  and  will  hasten  the  complete 
exploration  of  the  regions  first  penetrated  by  Moffat, 
Aiiderson,  and  Livingstone. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    NATIVE   TRIBES    OF    SOUTH    AFRICA. 

ALTHOUGH  the  various  native  tribes  of  Africa, 
from  the  Atlas  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  pos- 
sess so  many  common  peculiarities  of  language  and  of 
physical  structure,  that  they  may  be  all  classed  as  be- 
longing to  the  same  original  stock,  yet  those  which  in- 
habit the  southern  end  of  the  Continent  exhibit  many 
curious  and  interesting  features.  The  influences  of  cli- 
mate and  habits  of  life  Lave  greatly  modified  their 
character  and  appearance,  while  they  have  remained  in 
the  same  state  of  barbarism  as  the  tropical  tribes. 

The  primitive  inhabitants  of  the  Cape  country 
were  the  Hottentots,  who  are  still  scattered  over  the 
whole  colony,  gradually  diminishing  like  the  Indians 
and  Polynesians,  through  their  intercourse  with  civil- 
ized races.  The  name  "  Hottentot,"  which  was  given 
to  them  by  the  early  settlers,  does  not  seem  to  belong 
to  any  particular  tribe  ;  the  general  designation  which 
they  use  among  themselves,  is  "  Anaqua."  They  have 
long  been  held  by  the  civilized  world,  and  hardly  with 
injustice,  to  be  the  very  ideals  of  human  ugliness,  and 
some  ethnologists  place  them  lowest  in  the  scale  of 
races. 

The  pure-blooded  Hottentot  is  a  weak,  dwarfish 
creature,  rarely  five  feet   high,  with  a  spine  so  curved 


14  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  U Til  A  FRICA. 

towards  the  base  that  it  gives  him  a  half-stooping  atti 
tude.  His  skull  is  flattened  and  retreating,  and  the 
head  is  sprinkled  with  little  twists  of  short,  thin  wool, 
— a  feature  so  comical,  that  it  suggested  to  the  Dutch 
settlers  the  nickname  of  "  pepper-heads."  The  nose 
is  so  short  and  flat  that  it  hardly  can  be  called  one, 
although  the  nostrils  are  very  large,  and  the  thick, 
projecting  lips  frequently  cover  one-third  of  the  face. 
.Nevertheless,  their  hands  and  feet  are  remarkably  deli- 
cate and  beautiful ;  full-grown  Hottentots  easily  wear 
the  gloves  and  shoes  of  European  children  of  eight  or 
nine  years  old. 

The  race  is  characterized  by  a  peculiar  and  exceed- 
ingly disagreeable  odor,  so  powerful  that  it  may  often 
bo  noticed  in  a  room  hours  after  a  Hottentot  has  left 
it.  For  this  reason  they  cannot  be  employed  as  house- 
servants,  and  all  familiar  intercourse  with  Europeans 
is  prevented,  except  with  the  missionaries  to  whom 
such  intercourse  is  a  duty.  As  a  natural  consequence, 
the  Hottentots  are  painted  in  very  different  colors  by 
the  latter  and  by  English  or  Dutch  colonists,  the  for- 
mer affirming  that  the  work  of  conversion  and  civili- 
zation is  succeeding  among  them,  while  the  settlers 
Bay  that  they  are  still  lazy,  dishonest,  and  attached  to 
the  lowest  features  of  their  former  life. 

The  truth  probably  lies  midway  hit  ween  these  two 

representations.   The  Elottentot  is  good-natured,  social, 

and  fond  of  music;  therefore  capable  of  a  certain  de- 
rive of  civilization.  On  the  other  hand,  he  is  indolent, 
capricious,  servile  under  force,  and  impudent  nude: 
kindness.  lie  is  a  child  who  requires  a  steady,  strict, 
und  humane  discipline  from  the    stronger   race;  but 


THE  NA  TIVE   TRIBES.  15 

this  is  not  to  be  expected  from  any  colonial  govern- 
ment. 

A  superior  tribe,  called  the  Griquas,  has  been  pro- 
duced from  the  mixture  of  the  Hottentots  with  the 
early  Dutch  settlers.  They  formed,  at  first,  a  nomadic 
race;  but  about  the  beginning  of  this  century  took 
possession  of  the  territory  along  the  Orange  River,  and 
gradually  attached  themselves  to  the  soil.  The  mis- 
sionaries who  had  accompanied  them  in  their  wander- 
ings taught  them  to  add  agriculture  to  cattle-raising, 
to  establish  themselves  in  villages,  and  organize  a  prim- 
itive system  of  government.  The  settlement  has  now 
a  capital,  Griqua  City,  and  a  population  of  more  than 
20,000,  which  is  rapidly  increasing. 

The  Griquas  are  taller  and  more  vigorous  than  the 
Hottentots ;  their  skin  has  a  lighter  color,  and  their 
hair  is  more  abundant.  They  are  comparatively  steady 
and  industrious,  less  given  to  drunkenness,  and  their 
condition  is  regularly,  if  slowly,  improving.  In  their 
settlement  of  Philippolis,  on  a  branch  of  the  Orange 
River,  they  have  churches  and  schools,  and  cultivate 
large  wheat-farms.  Those  of  the  tribe  who  retain 
more  of  the  Hottentot  blood  and  character,  wander 
with  their  herds  of  cattle  over  the  less  fertile  districts 
to  the  north  of  the  river,  where  they  have  partly  affil- 
iated themselves  with  another  native  tribe,  the  Koran- 
as,  who  somewhat  resemlle  them.  The  latter  are  also 
herdsmen,  but  cultivate  maize,  melons,  and  tobacco, 
and  carry  on  a  consideiable  trade  with  the  Cape,  in 
cattle,  hides  and  ostrich-feathers.  Their  former  pro- 
pensity for  war  and  plunder  has  been  extinguished  by 
the  efforts  of  the  missionaries  who  live  among  them. 


16  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

The  western  coast  of  South  Africa,  on  both  side? 
of  the  Orange  River,  is  called  "  Nam  aqua-Land,"  from 
the  large  tribe  of  the  Nauiaquas — a  branch  of  the  orig- 
inal Hottentot  race — who  inhabit  it.  Their  home  is 
found  in  those  great  sandy  plains,  which  extend  far 
inland,  dotted  with  small  oases,  where  scanty  spring* 
of  water  appear  or  disappear,  according  to  the  season. 
The  greater  part  of  the  territory  belongs  to  the  Cape 
Colony,  but  the  Government  exercises  little  or  no  au- 
thority over  the  Nauiaquas.  They  wander  over  the 
desert  with  their  herds  of  dwarf  cattle,  said  to  be  the 
smallest  in  the  world,  seeking  the  scanty  tracts  of  pas- 
turage. Sometimes  there  is  no  rain  for  four  or  live 
years,  and  they  are  then  compelled  to  approach  the 
more  fertile  regions  to  the  eastward.  The  Nauiaquas 
are  taller  than  the  Hottentots,  astonishingly  lean,  with 
strongly  projecting  cheek-bones,  oblique  eyes,  and 
have  little  woolly  knobs  instead  of  hair.  Their  lan- 
guage is  considered  the  purest  of  the  Hottentot  dia- 
lects. 

The  last  and  Lowest  branch  of  this  race  is  the 
Bllfthmen,  as  they  are  called  by  the  settlers,  their  own 
name  being  Saab.  The  Bushman  seems  to  be  the 
native  African  savage,  whom  even  the  ruder  civiliza- 
tion of  his  neighbors  has  left  untouched,  one  of  the 
lowest,  most  miserable  and  persecuted  of  tin4  races  of 
men.  His  home  is  in  those  desolate  tracts  of  country 
which  all  other  tribes  have  rejected  as  unlit  for  habita- 
tion. There  are  plenty  o{'  these  tracts  scattered  over 
South  Africa,  and  the  Irishmen  may  therefore  be 
found  from  the  Karroo,  or  the  Snowy  Mountains,  in 
the  south,  to  Lake  Xgaiui   in  the  north,  ranging  from 


NAMAQUA   MUSICIAN 


THE  NA  TIVE  TRIBES.  17 

will  or  necessity  over  hundreds  of  miles  of  territory. 
Their  condition  was  the  same  as  at  present  wThen  the 
Dutch  landed  in  Table  Bay :  they  were  looked  upon 
as  savages  and  outlaws  by  their  Hottentot  relatives. 

The  Bushman  is  only  4  feet  high,  but  rather  sym- 
metrical in  form.  His  skin  is  jet-black,  and  only  ap- 
pears gray  from  its  permanent  coating  of  dust  and 
ashes.  His  woolly  hair  hangs  in  short  twists  over  his 
forehead  and  ears,  and  one  of  his  greatest  delights  is  to 
grease  these  twists  and  decorate  them  with  feathers, 
6hells,  or  pieces  of  bone.  His  clothing  consists  of  a 
skin  over  the  shoulders,  and  a  thin  leather  girdle 
around  the  loins.  His  dwelling,  whenever  he  happens 
to  have  one,  is  of  the  very  simplest  kind.  He  will 
sleep  under  a  bush,  in  a  hedge-hog's  hole,  beside  an 
ant-hill,  in  the  cleft  of  a  rock ;  but  sometimes  he  bends 
a  few  sticks  in  a  semicircular  form,  fastens  their  ends 
in  the  earth,  covers  them  with  grass  and  creeps  under 
them. 

The  language  of  the  tribe,  originally  Hottentot, 
has  become  so  changed  in  their  wandering  life  that 
it  now  scarcely  appears  to  be  an  articulate  speech.  It 
is  a  continual  clucking  of  the  tongue  against  the  teeth 
or  the  roof  of  the  mouth,  mixed  with  snorts  through 
the  nose.  For  a  long  time  it  was  supposed  that  the 
Bushmen  were  incapable  of  being  improved,  but  many 
of  them  have  learned  the  Dutch  language,  and  their 
children  have  even  been  taught  to  read  and  write. 

These  savages  live  upon  whatever  they  find  in 
their  way.  They  prefer  beef,  and  are  arrant  robbers 
to  obtain  it :  they  shoot  antelopes,  gnus,  hyenas,  with 
imall  poisoned  a  rows ;   grasshoppers  and  worms  are 


18  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

welcome  to  them,  and  even  the  desert  supplies  a  vari- 
ety of  plants  and  roots  which  they  eat  raw.  The 
Bushman  wandering  over  the  hare,  burning  sand,  sees 
perhaps  a  single  dried  blade  which  no  other  eye  than 
his  own  would  detect ;  he  thrusts  his  bony  linger  into 
the  soil,  scoops  out  a  rough  bulb,  and  eats  it  as  a  deli- 
cious morsel.  When  he  has  slain  a  large  animal,  he 
so  tills  himself  that  he  can  afterwards  go  without  food 
for  a  week.  This  mode  of  life,  however,  soon  ex- 
hausts his  vital  forces;  he  is  old,  withered  and  gray  at 
the  age  of  forty,  if,  indeed,  the  bullet  of  a  settler  or 
the  lance  of  a  Kaffer  has  not  pierced  hiin  long  before 
that  age. 

Not  only  the  Dutch  and  English  colonists,  but 
every  native  tribe  in  South  Africa,  wage  war  upon 
the  Bushmen.  The  latter,  it  is  true,  provoke  this  con- 
tinual hostility  by  their  thefts  of  cattle  from  the  outly- 
ing settlements.  In  former  times  it  was  customary  to 
organize  expeditions  for  the  pursuit  and  slaughter  of 
the  Bushmen,  and  even  now,  after  all  the  efforts  made 
by  missionaries,  by  the  Government  and  by  private 
individuals,  but  very  little  change  has  been  effected. 
Almost  the  only  successful  attempt  to  improve  the 
condition  of  the  tribe  was  made  by  one  of  the  BedlU 
ana  chiefs,  who  collected  a  number  of  Bushmen  to- 
gether, gave  thorn  cattle  and  persuaded  them  to  culti- 
vate the  soil.  The  descendants  of  these  people,  it  is 
said,  have  entirely  lost  their  nomadic  instincts,  and 
now  resemble  the  other  branches  of  the  Hottentot 
race. 

The  eastern  half  of  South  Africa,  and  a  portion  of 
the  central  region,  is  mainly  inhabited  by  a  very  dit- 


THE  NATIVE  TRIBES.  19 

ferent  race  of  natives,  all  apparently  related  to  each 
other,  though  now  divided  into  distinct  tribes,  the 
Bechuanas,  Bassutos,  and  the  various  branches  of  the 
Kaffers.  The  former  inhabit  the  territory  stretching 
from  the  upper  waters  of  the  Orange  River  northward 
to  the  Kalihari  Desert  and  towards  the  Zambesi ;  the 
Bassutos  live  on  the  western  slopes  of  the  Dragon 
Mountains,  and  the  Kaffers  (where  they  have  not  been 
forced  into  the  interior  by  English  settlement)  have 
possession  of  the  eastern  coast. 

The  Bechuanas  have  been  made  familiar  to  us  by 
the  missionary  labors  of  Mr.  Moffatt,  one  of  the  first 
and  boldest  explorers  of  the  interior.  They  are  a  race 
superior  to  the  Hottentots,  both  in  physical  structure 
and  in  their  natural  capacity  for  improvement.  They 
live  chiefly  in  kraals,  or  villages,  cultivate  the  soil, 
and  have  a  rude  patriarchal  form  of  government.  Like 
their  relatives,  the  Kaffers,  they  have  produced  many 
men  of  unusal  energy  and  intelligence. 

The  region  inhabited  by  the  Bassutos  was  an  un- 
known land  thirty  or  forty  years  ago.  The  Griquas 
and  Koranas  gave  the  first  intimation  of  the  existence 
of  the  race,  and  the  zealous  missionaries,  guided  by 
them,  set  out  for  this  new  field  of  labor.  The  chief  of 
the  Bassutos,  Moshesh,  who  is  still  living,  sent  word 
that  he  desired  a  visit  from  some  of  the  "men  of 
prayer,"  in  the  hope  that  he  might  be  protected  by 
them  from  the  forays  of  the  Griquas.  After  a  long 
and  wearisome  journey  up  the  Caledon  River,  one  of 
the  southern  branches  of  the  Orange,  the  missionarie. 
saw  at  last  the  picturesque  chain  of  the  Dragon  Moun 
tains.     The  rolling  and  ascending  table-land  over  whick 


20  TRA  VELS  IN  Z^UTH  AFRICA, 

they  had  travelled  gave  way  to  a  singularly  wild  and 
broken  country.  Isolated  mountains,  or  masses  of 
sandstone  rock,  five  or  six  hundred  feet  in  height,  and 
sometimes  several  miles  in  circumference,  studded  the 
region ;  the  vegetation  was  rich  and  strange,  semi-trop- 
ical in  character,  and  game  was  abundant.  Between 
the  peaks  opened  deep  basins,  or  long,  trough-like 
valleys,  watered  with  beautiful  streams. 

They  found  the  chief  Moshesh  at  his  residence  of 
Thaba  Bossiu,  a  singular  table-mountain,  which  the 
Bassutos  had  made  inaccessible  to  their  enemies. 
Owing  to  the  security  of  the  place,  the  valley  was 
partly  cultivated,  and  the  adjacent  region  was  dotted 
with  villages  and  herds.  The  rains,  which  fall  regularly 
on  the  mountains  from  October  to  April,  nourish  a  rich 
vegetation,  and  those  wild  people,  under  the  direction 
of  their  heroic  chief,  had  already  begun  the  cultivation 
of  wheat  and  fruits. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  missionaries,  who  were 
French  Protestants,  worked  among  the  Bassutos  writh 
encouraging  success.  The  people  learned  to  read  and 
write,  showed  an  unusual  quickness  of  understanding, 
and  were  deeply  impressed  by  the  Bible  narrati 
Moshesh  took  the  lead  in  these  changes;  the  printing 
ot  the  Bible  in  the  native  language  was  commenced, 
and  there  was  every  prospect  of  the  complete  conversion 
of  the  tribe,  when  the  emigration  of  the  Dutch  Bo 
and  the  establishment  of  their  Orange  River  Republic 
interrupted  the  good  work.  The  Hassuto  territory 
was  invaded,  wars  arose,  the  English  Government  sup- 
ported the  petty  chiefs  in  a  revolt  against  Moshesh, 
the  natives  lost  their  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  Christian 


MOSIIECH,   CHIEF  OF   THE  BASSUTOS 


THE  NA  TIVE   TRIBES.  21 

doctrines,  and  in  four  years  had  relapsed  into  worse 
than  their  former  condition.  Of  late  years  the  work 
has  been  resumed,  since  the  establishment  of  a  fixed 
boundary  between  the  Boers  and  the  Bassutos  secure* 
a  season  of  peace. 

The  Bassutos,  like  the  Bechuanas,  are  tall,  strong, 
well-built,  and  often  strikingly  handsome  in  form,  and 
quick  and  graceful  in  their  movements.  There  is  very 
little  of  the  negro  character  in  their  faces,  and  some 
have  the  appearance  of  dark-brown  Caucasians.  They 
live  in  small  straw-huts,  shaped  like  bee-hives,  and 
arranged  in  a  circle,  where  their  herds  are  kept  at 
night.  The  chief's  house  stands  alone,  upon  an  eleva- 
ted point,  near  which  there  is  an  inclosure  where  the 
elders  of  the  village  meet  to  discuss  matters  of  general 
interest,  decide  disputes,  and  punish  crimes.  The 
people  live  almost  entirely  in  the  open  air,  only  enter- 
ing their  huts  when  it  rains,  or  in  case  of  sickness. 
They  have  some  mechanical  skill,  manufacturing  their 
own  knives,  baskets,  household  implements,  and  even 
a  kind  of  felt  cloth.  Like  the  Hottentots,  they  are 
lazy  and  thievish,  the  only  employment  which  they 
relish  being  the  herding  of  their  cattle.  The  Bassuto 
will  pass  whole  days  sitting  on  his  heels  and  talking 
with  his  neighbor,  or  smoking  hemp  until  he  is  stupid, 
or  lying  on  the  ground  in  the  sun,  while  his  wife  per- 
forms all  the  necessary  household  labors. 

The  old  chief  Moshesh,  in  1859,  visited  the  settle- 
ment of  Aliwal,  on  Orange  River,  in  order  to  pay  his 
respects  to  Prince  Alfred  and  Governor  Grey.  lie 
was  accompanied  by  three  thousand  Bassuto  horsemen, 
five  hundred  of  whom  wore  skins  of  lions  and  loop- 


22  TRA  VEL S  IN  SO  U TH  A  FR1CA. 

ards.  The  wild  war-dance  wliicli  they  performed 
must  have  been  the  most  remarkable  spectacle  seen 
by  the  Prince  on  his  voyage  around  the  world.  Tlit 
old  chief  wore  the  European  costume,  with  a  high 
black  hat  and  a  heavy  military  cloak.  On  the  top  of 
his  natural  fortress  of  Thaba  Bossiu  he  lias  built  an 
English  house,  and  filled  it  with  modern  furnUure,  but 
still  lives  in  a  little  native  hut,  smears  his  body  with  a 
mixture  of  fat  and  red  clay,  and  hangs  around  his  neck 
every  trinket  which  he  can  beg  from  a  chance  visitor. 
The  Kaffers — a  name  derived  from  the  Arabic 
kajtr,  a  heretic — inhabit  all  the  country  from  the 
Snowy  and  Dragon  Mountains  to  the  Indian  Ocean, 
while  the  same  race  is  found  between  the  Limpopo 
and  the  Zambesi  Rivers,  and,  according  to  Livingstone, 
in  the  upper  valley  of  that  river.  They  are,  in  many 
respects,  a  remarkable  race,  showing  a  strange  mixture 
of  the  native  African  and  the  Caucasian  in  their 
features,  their  habits  of  life  and  their  intellectual  qual- 
ities. For  this  reason  some  have  conjectured  that 
they  are  of  mixed  blood,  produced — like  the  Griquaa, 
iu  later  times — by  the  intercourse  of  the  Arabs  with 
the  natives  of  the  eastern  coast,  during  the  Middle 
Ages.  Although  divided  into  many  detached  tribes, 
the  essential  characteristics  of  the  race  are  found  iu 
all.  Proud,  independent,  courageous,  and  dignified  in 
their  bearing,  they  form  the  strangest  possible  contrast 
with  the  Hottentots;  and  they  have  many  natural 
virtues  which  might  have  carried  them  far  towards 
chilization,  but  for  the  wars  into  which  they  have 
been  plunged  by  the  rapacity  of  the  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish   settlers.     These  wars  have    not  only  greatly  di- 


THE  NA  TIVE   TRIBES.  23 

finished  their  numbers,  but  kept  alive  a  feeling  of 
implacable  hatred  towards  the  white  race,  which  the 
missionaries  have  only  mitigated,  not  subdued. 

The  Amakosa  Kaffers,  inhabiting  the  beautiful  ana 
fertile  terraces  of  the  eastern  coast,  furnish,  perhaps, 
the  best  type  of  the  race.  Favored  by  soil  and  cli- 
mate, they  have  developed  an  unusual  degree  ot  beauty 
and  symmetry.  Although  their  hair  is  woolly,  and 
their  lips  and  cheek-bones  suggest  the  negro,  the  Cau- 
casian character  is  predominant,  both  in  the  features 
and  the  form  of  the  skull.  The  forehead  indicates  in- 
telligence, and  the  aquiline  nose  and  clear,  brilliant 
eyes  are  thoroughly  Semitic.  These  Kaffers  are  quick 
of  apprehension,  cunning,  noble-minded  and  firm  of 
character,  yet  cautious  in  manner,  and  with  a  certain 
expression  of  pride  and  reserve.  Towards  strangers 
their  bearing  is  cold,  almost  contemptuous,  and  only 
slowly  changes  when  their  confidence  has  been  secured. 
They  are  strong  and  active,  and  naturally  averse  to 
an  indolent  habit  of  life.  Their  activity,  however,  is 
rather  manifested  in  war  and  the  chase  than  in  useful 
labor.  In  their  public  assemblies  and  debates  they  ex- 
hibit a  genuine  oratorical  power,  and  the  keenness  and 
closeness  of  their  reasoning  is  quite  remarkable.  They 
have  both  a  local  attachment,  and  a  strong  patriotic, 
or  national,  feeling,  in  which  respect  they  differ  favor- 
ably from  almost  all  other  native  African  tribes. 

The  Kaffers  are  herdsmen,  without  being  nomads. 
The  fortunate  chara  ter  of  the  territory  where  they 
settled  long  ago,  after  having,  according  to  their  tradi- 
tions, migrated  from  the  north,  gives  them  continual 
pastures,  without  changing  their  homes.     The  eastern 


24  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

coast  of  Africa,  for  a  breadth  of  fifteen  or  twenty  miles, 
is  tropical :  then  it  gradually  rises  to  a  height  of  2,000 
feet  above  the  sea> — a  broad  table-land,  warm  yet  tem- 
perate, with  a  soil  which  produces  all  varieties  of  grain 
and  fruit;  and  finally,  twenty  miles  further,  there  is  a 
second  elevation  of  2,000  feet,  beyond  which  there  are 
grand  forests,  and  inexhaustible  pastures.  On  these 
rising  plateaux  the  Kaffers  have  lived  for  centuries,  de- 
veloping a  simple  yet  sufficient  form  of  government, 
a  rude  religion,  and  a  highly  imaginative  and  pic- 
turesque literature. 

The  races  of  South  Africa  thus  divide  themselves 
into  two  families,  the  limits  of  which  are  tolerably 
well  defined.  A  line  drawn  north  and  south,  through 
the  centre  of  this  extremity  of  the  continent,  would 
leave  the  Hottentot  tribes  on  the  west  and  the  Kaffer 
tribes  on  the  east.  By  bearing  in  mind  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  each,  and  their  differences,  the  reader 
will  more  readily  comprehend  the  difficulties  which 
em-rounded  each  special  field  of  exploration. 


CHAPTER  111. 


AS  we  have  already  indicated,  the  Protestant  mis- 
sionaries were  really  the  first  explorers  of  South 
Africa,  for  the  exploration  of  the  interior  (beyond  the 
discovery  of  the  Orange  River)  did  not  commence 
until  after  the  Cape  Colony  had  passed  into  the  hands 
of  England.  To  comprehend  how  much  those  mis- 
sionaries dared,  in  their  zeal  for  the  conversion  of  the 
native  tribes,  we  must  remember  how  the  hostility  be- 
tween the  Dutch  Boers  and  the  Hottentots,  especially 
the  Namaquas  and  Bushmen,  had  been  confirmed  by 
generations  of  warfare.  It  was  a  settled,  chronic  en- 
mity, and  the  suspicion  which  it  engendered  could 
only  be  overcome  by  slow  degrees. 

The  first  missionaries  sent  to  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  had,  therefore,  a  far  more  serious  task  before  them 
than  the  successors  for  whom  they  prepared  the  way. 
The  patience,  zeal  and  integrity  of  the  Scotch  charac- 
ter was  admirably  adapted  to  this  arduous  work,  and  in 
the  annals  of  missionary  enterprise  there  are  no  more 
deserving  names  than  those  of  Campbell,  Moffat,  and 
Livingstone.  The  first  of  these  greatly  increased  our 
knowledge  of  the  native  tribes,  but  dicl  not  accomplish  a 
great  deal  in  the  way  of  exploration.  Robert  Moffat, 
who  was  sent  out  by  the  London  Missionary  Society  in 


2t)  TRA  VELS  IN  SOU Til  AFRICA. 

1817,  and  labored  steadily  in  the  field  for  nearly  forty 
years,  then  transferring  his  mantle  to  the  shoulders  of 
his  son-in-law,  Livingstone,  was  the  first  to  penetrate 
into  the  unknown  regions  beyond  the  Orange  River,  as 
far  as  the  Bamangwato  Mountains  north  of  the  head- 
waters of  the  Limpopo.  His  work,  -  Missionary  Scenes 
and  Labors  in  Southern  Africa,"  published  in  London 
in  1842,  is  not  a  connected  narrative  of  his  journeys, 
but  a  series  of  incidents,  observations  and  reflections, 
which,  nevertheless,  contains  much  geographical  infor- 
mation that  was  new  and  valuable  at  the  time. 

Mr.  Moffat's  first  years  were  spent  in  what  is  called 
Great  Namaqua-land,  on  the  western  coast,  north  of 
the  Orange  River,  a  country  of  sand  and  stones,  with 
a  thinly-scattered  population,  always  suffering  from  the 
lack  of  water.  The  region  is  traversed  by  the  Fish 
and  Oup  Rivers  and  their  tributaries — or,  rather,  the 
glowing  beds  wherein  those  rivers  flow,  when  there 
happens  to  be  any  water.  "  Sometimes,"  he  says,  "  for 
years  together,  they  are  not  known  to  run  ;  when,  after 
the  stagnant  pools  are  dried  up,  the  natives  congregate 
to  their  beds  and  dig  holes,  or  wells,  in  some  instances 
to  the  depth  of  twenty  feet  from  which  they  draw 
water,  generally  of  a  very  inferior  quality.  They 
place  branches  of  trees  in  the  excavation,  and  with 
great  labor,  under  a  hot  sun,  hand  up  the  water  in 
a  wooden  vessel  and  pour  it  into  an  artificial  trough,  to 
which  the  panting,  lowing  herds  approach,  partially  to 
satiate  their  thirst.  Thunder-storms  are  eagerly  anti- 
cipated, for  by  these  only  rain  falls;  and  frequently 
these  storms  will  pass  over  with  tremendous  violence, 
striking  the  inlnbitan's  with  awe,  while  not  a  single 


MOFFA  TS  MISSION 'AR  Y  JO  URNE  YS.  2  7 

drop  of  rain  descends  to  cool  and  fructify  the  parched 
waste. 

"  When  the  heavens  let  down  their  watery  treas- 
ures, it  is  generally  in  a  partial  strip  of  country  which 
the  electric  cloud  has  traversed,  so  that  the  traveller 
will  frequently  pass,  almost  instantaneously,  from 
ground  on  which  there  is  not  a  blade  of  grass,  into 
tracts  of  luxuriant  green,  sprung  up  after  a  passing 
storm.  Fountains  are  indeed  few  and  far  between,  the 
best  very  inconsiderable,  frequently  very  salt,  and  some 
of  them  hot  springs,  while  the  surrounding  soil  is  gen- 
erally so  impregnated  with  saltpetre,  as  to  crackle  un- 
der the  feet  like  hoar-frost,  and  it  is  with  great  difH 
culty  that  any  kind  of  vegetable  can  be  made  to  grow. 
Much  of  the  country  is  hard  and  stony,  interspersed 
with  plains  of  deep  sand.  There  is  much  granite,  and 
quartz  is  so  abundantly  scattered,  reflecting  such  a 
glare  of  light  from  the  rays  of  the  sun,  that  the  trav- 
eller, if  exposed  at  noonday,  can  scarcely  allow  his  eye- 
lids to  be  sufficiently  open  to  enable  him  to  keep  hir. 
course." 

The  inhabitants  of  this  region  were  the  Namaqua 
branch  of  the  Hottentots,  who  have  already  been  des- 
cribed. Their  chief  at  this  time  was  a  native  named 
Africaner,  who  had  been  a  slave  to  a  Dutch  farmer, 
but,  having  been  treated  with  cruelty,  murdered  his 
master,  led  his  tribe  beyond  the  Orange  Eiver,  and 
thenceforth  made  such  forays  into  the  colony  that  his 
very  name  had  become  a  terror.  He  was  victorious 
over  all  native  enemies,  successful  over  all  the  plots 
made  to  destroy  him,  and  his  power  seemed  to  inter- 
oose  an  insurmountable  obstacle  to  any  further  advance 


28  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

into  the  interior.  The  missionary,  Campbell,  however, 
conciliated  his  favor  by  a  friendly  letter;  his  colleague, 
Ebner,  followed,  and  succeeded  in  converting  Africaner 
and  his  family  to  Christianity. 

On  Moffat's  arrival  at  the  Cape,  he  found  Mr.  Eb- 
ner, who  had  just  returned  from  Africaners  land,  and 
he  determined,  at  once,  to  accompany  him  thither.  It 
was  a  proper  beginning  for  his  later  labors.  On  ap- 
proaching the  northern  borders  of  the  Cape  Colony,  he 
says :  "  It  was  evident  to  me,  that  the  farmers,  who,  of 
course,  had  not  one  good  word  to  say  of  Africaner, 
were  skeptical  to  the  last  degree  about  his  reported 
conversion,  and  most  unceremoniously  predicted  my 
destruction.  One  said  he  would  set  me  up  as  a  mark 
for  his  boys  to  shoot  at;  another  that  he  would  strip 
off  my  skin  and  make  a  drum  of  it  to  dance  to  ;  and 
another  most  consoling  prediction  was  that  he  would 
make  a  drinking-cup  of  my  skull.  [  believe  thev  were 
serious,  and  especially  a  kind,  motherly  lady,  who,  wip- 
ing the  tears  from  her  eves,  bade  me  farewell,  saying: 
'  Had  you  been  an  old  man,  it  would  have  been  nothing, 
for  you  must  soon  have  died,  whether  or  no  ;  but  you  are 
young,  and  going  to  become  a  prey  to  that  monster.'  M 

Moffat  safely  reached  Africaner's  village,  but  the 
people  were  reserved,  Bnspicioos  and  unfriendly.  The 
chief  did  not  immediately  visit  him,  but  when  he 
had  done  so,  and  learned  that  Moffat  had  been  sent 
out  by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  lie  expressed 
his  satisfaction,  and  added  that  as  he  was  a  young  man 
he  hoped  he  should  live  long  with  him  and  his  people. 
He  then  ordered  a  number  of  women  to  come,  an  at- 
tention which  somewhat  puzzled  the  missionary,  until 


MOFFA  T'S  MISSION  A  R  Y  JO  URNE  VS.  29 

the  women  arrived,  bearing  bundles  of  native  mats  and 
long  poles,  like  fishing-rods.  Africaner  pointed  to  a 
6pot  of  ground,  and  said :  "  You  must  build  there  a 
house  for  the  missionary."  A  circle  was  instantly 
formed,  the  women  fixed  the  poles,  tied  them  down  in 
a  hemispheric  form,  and  covered  them  with  mats,  all 
ready  for  habitation,  in  the  space  of  little  more  than 
half  an  hour. 

Mr.  Moffat  confesses,  however,  that  a  Hottentot 
house  is  not  very  comfortable.  "  I  lived,"  he  says, 
"  nearly  six  months  in  this  native  hut,  which  very  fre- 
quently required  tightening  and  fastening  after  a 
storm.  When  the  sun  shone,  it  was  unbearably  hot, 
when  the  rain  fell,  I  came  in  for  a  share  of  it;  when 
the  wind  blew  I  had  frequently  to  decamp  to  escape 
the  dust ;  and  in  addition  to  these  little  inconvenien- 
ces, any  hungry  cur  of  a  dog  that  wished  a  night's 
lodging,  would  force  itself  through  the  frail  wall,  and 
not  unfrequently  deprive  me  of  my  meal  for  the  coin- 
ing day ;  and  I  have  more  than  once  found  a  serpent 
coiled  up  in  a  corner.  Nor  were  these  all  the  contin- 
gencies of  such  a  dwelling,  for,  as  the  cattle  belonging 
to  the  village  had  no  fold,  I  have  been  compelled  to 
start  up  from  a  sound  sleep,  and  try  to  defend  myself 
and  my  dwelling  from  being  crushed  to  pieces  by  the 
rage  of  two  bulls  which  had  met  to  fight  a  nocturnal 
duel." 

It  was  soon  evident  that  Africaner's  conversion  waa 
as  genuine  as  his  limited  intelligence  would  admit.  He 
attended  seriously  to  Mr.  Moffat's  instructions,  treated 
him  in  the  most  friendly  manner,  and  even,  at  times, 
manifested  a  sensibility  in  regard  to  moral  impressions, 


30  TEA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

which  could  hardly  have  been  expected  in  one  of  his 
degraded  race.  "  One  day,  when  seated  together," 
the  missionary  relates,  "  I  happened,  in  absence  of 
mind,  to  be  gazing  steadfastly  on  him.  It  arretted  hie 
attention,  and  he  modestly  inquired  the  cause.  I  re- 
plied, '  I  was  trying  to  picture  to  myself  your  carry- 
ing fire  and  sword  through  the  country,  and  I  could 
not  think  how  eyes  like  yours  could  smile  at  human 
woe !  '  He  answered  not,  but  shed  a  flood  of  tears ! 
He  zealously  seconded  my  efforts  to  improve  the  peo- 
ple in  cleanliness  and  industry,  and  it  would  have  made 
anyone  smile  to  have  seen  Africaner  and  myself  super- 
intending the  school  children,  now  about  a  hundred 
and  twenty,  washing  themselves  at  the  fountain." 

The  place  which  Africaner  had  selected  for  his  vil- 
lage was  not  well  adapted  for  a  permanent  habitation  ; 
60,  accompanied  by  Moffat,  he  set  out  to  examine  the 
country  to  the  northward.  The  record  of  this  journey, 
however,  relates  rather  to  the  natives  than  to  the  geo- 
graphical character  of  the  region.  Failing  to  find  the 
requisite  supply  of  water,  they  returned,  and  we  can 
only  guess  that  they  must  have  penetrated  as  far  as  the 
tropical  line.  Several  months  afterwards,  Moffat  un- 
dertook to  visit  the  Griqua  country,  further  up  the 
( )range  River,  in  the  interest  of  Africaner,  who  was 
desirous  of  settling  in  some  locality  where  his  tribe 
could  be  permanently  subsisted. 

This  second  journey  was  successful  in  its  object, 
but,  before  commencing  the  migration,  Moffat  found  it 
necessary  to  visit  Capetown,  and  he  proposed  that  Af- 
ricaner should  accompany  him.  As  a  reward  of  a 
thousand  dollars  had  been  offered  for  the  chief's  head, 


MOFFA  T'S  MISSIONAR  Y  JO URNE  VS.  .31 

both  he  and  his  people  objected  to  the  plan  ;  since,  at 
though  he  might  not  be  molested  by  the  Government, 
he  could  hardly  escape  the  vengeance  of  the  colonists, 
through  whose  territory  they  must  pass.  It  was  finally 
arranged  that  Africaner  should  go  in  disguise,  as  Mof- 
fat's servant,  and  the  latter  set  out  on  his  return  to  civ- 
ilization. He  relates  an  interesting  incident  which  oc- 
curred after  reaching  the  settlements : 

"  On  approaching  the  place,  which  was  on  an  emi- 
nence, I  directed  my  men  to  take  the  wagon  to 
the  valley  below,  while  I  walked  towards  the 
house.  The  farmer,  seeing  a  stranger,  came  slowly 
down  the  descent  to  meet  me.  When  within  a  few 
yards,  I  addressed'himin  the  usual  way,  and  stretching 
out  my  hand,  expressed  my  pleasure  at  seeing  him 
again.  He  put  his  hand  behind  him,  and  asked  me, 
rather  wildly,  who  I  was.  I  replied  that  I  was  Moffat, 
oxpressing  my  wonder  that  he  should  have  forgotten 
me.  'Moffat !'  he  rejoined,  in  a  faltering  voice;  'it 
is  your  ghost !  '  and  moved  some  steps  backward.  '  I 
am  no  ghost,'  I  said.  'Don't  come  near  me  ! '  he  ex- 
claimed, '  you  have  been  long  murdered  by  Africaner.' 
'  But  /  am  no  ghost,'  I  said,  feeling  my  hands,  as  if  to 
convince  him,  and  myself  too,  of  my  materiality;  but 
his  alarm  only  increased.  'Everybody  says  you  were 
murdered,  and  a  man  told  me  he  had  seen  your  bones ; ' 
and  he  continued  to  gaze  at  me,  to  the  no  small  aston- 
ishment of  the  good  wife  and  children,  who  were 
standing  at  the  door,  as  also  to  that  of  my  own  people, 
who  were  looking  on  from  the  wagon  below.  At 
'ength  he  extended  his  trembling  hand,  saying, 4  When 
did  you  rise  from  the  dead  V 


32  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

'*  As  he  feared  my  presence  would  alarm  his  wife, 
we  bent  our  steps  towards  the  wagon,  and  Africaner 
was  the  subject  of  our  conversation.  I  gave  him  in  a 
few  words  my  views  of  his  present  character,  saying: 
'  lie  is  now  a  truly  good  man,' — to  which  he  replied  : 
'  I  can  believe  almost  anything  you  say,  but  that  I  can- 
not credit.'  By  this  time  we  were  standing  with  Af- 
ricaner at  our  feet ;  on  his  countenance  sat  a  smile,  he 
well  knowing  the  prejudices  of  some  of  the  farmers. 
The  man  closed  the  conversation  by  saying,  with 
much  earnestness,  '  Well,  if  what  you  assert  be  true 
respecting  that  man,  I  have  only  one  wish,  and  that  is, 
to  see  him  before  I  die;  and  when  you  return,  as  sure 
as  the  sun  is  over  our  heads,  I  will  go  with  you  to  see 
him,  though  he  killed  my  own  uncle.'  I  was  not  be- 
fore aware  of  this  fact,  and  now  felt  some  hesitation 
whether  to  discover  to  him  the  object  of  his  wonder; 
but  knowing  the  sincerity  of  the  farmer  and  the  good- 
ness of  his  disposition,  I  said,  i  This,  then,  is  Afri- 
caner.' lie  started  back,  looking  intensely  at  the  man 
as  if  lie  had  just  dropped  from  the  clouds.  'Are  you 
Africaner?'  he  exclaimed.  The  chief  arose,  doffed 
his  old  hat,  and  making  a  polite  bow,  answered, '  I  am.' 
The  farmer  seemed  thunder-struck;  but  when,  by  a 
few  questions,  he  had  assured  himself  of  the  fact,  that 
the  former  bugbear  of  the  border  stood  before  him, 
now  meek  and  lamb-like   in  his  whole  deportment,  he 

lilted  up  his  eyes  and  exclaimed,  *0  God,  what  a  mir- 
acle of  thy  power!  what  cannot  thy  grace  accom- 
plish!' The  kind  fanner  and  his  no  less  hospitable 
wife,  now  abundantly  supplied  our  wants;  but  we  has 
tened  our  departure   lest  the   intelligence  might  get 


MOFFA  T'S  MISSIONAR  Y  JO  URNE  VS.  33 

abroad  that  Africaner  was  with  me,  and  bring  un- 
pleasant visitors." 

On  arriving  at  Capetown,  Africaner  was  received 
with  much  kindness  by  the  Governor,  Lord  Charles 
Somerset.  His  presence  produced  a  great  sensation 
among  the  people,  who  were  only  gradually  convinced 
of  the  sincerity  of  his  conversion;  but  at  a  public 
meeting,  which  was  held  for  the  purpose,  he  displayed 
a  surprising  familiarity  with  the  Gospel  narratives  and 
teachings.  This  first  success  encouraged  Mr.  Moffat 
to  continue  his  labors,  and  in  1821  he  established  him- 
self at  Kuruman,  in  the  Beclmana  country.  He  was 
forced  to  contend  with  great  difficulties,  on  account  of 
the  lazy  and  thievish  habits  of  the  natives,  and  their 
indifference  to  instruction,  unless  it  was  accompanied 
by  some  material  advantage.  The  vegetables,  which 
the  missionaries  had  raised  with  great  labor,  would  be 
stolen  from  their  gardens ;  their  houses  were  pilfered 
during  service  on  the  Sabbath ;  and  the  conduct  of 
even  the  converted  natives  was  so  careless  and  irrev- 
erent that  the  teachers  were  greatly  discouraged. 
After  five  years  of  the  greatest  patience  they  had  made 
so  little  impression  on  the  minds  of  the  people,  that 
their  position  among  them  seemed  as  insecure  as  at  the 
beginning.  The  incident  which  revealed  this  insecu- 
rity is  a  curious  illustration  of  the  superstitions  of  the 
Bechuanas. 

"Years  of  drought  had  been  severely  felt,"  says 
Moffat,  "  and  the  natives,  tenacious  of  their  faith  in  the 
potency  of  a  man,  held  a  council,  and  passed  resolutions 
to  send  for  a  rain-maker  of  renown  from  the  Bahurutsi 
tribe,  two  hundred  miles  uorth-east  of  the  Kuruman 
*2 


J>4  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

station.  Rain-makers  have  always  most  honor  among 
a  strange  people,  and  therefore  they  are  generally  for 
eigners.  The  heavens  had  been  as  brass, — scarcely  a 
cloud  had  been  seen  for  months,  even  on  the  distant 
horizon.  Suddenly  a  shout  was  raised,  and  the  whole 
town  was  in  motion  :  the  rain-maker  was  approaching. 
Every  voice  was  raised  to  the  highest  pitch,  with  ac- 
clamations of  enthusiastic  joy.  He  had  sent  a  harbin- 
ger to  announce  his  approach,  with  peremptory  orders 
for  all  the  inhabitants  to  wash  their  feet.  Every  one 
seemed  to  fly  in  swiftest  obedience  to  the  adjoining 
river.  Noble  and  ignoble,  even  the  girl  who  attended 
to  our  kitchen-fire,  ran;  old  and  young  ran;  all  the 
world  could  not  have  stopped  them.  By  this  time  the 
clouds  began  to  gather,  and  a  crowd  went  out  to  wel- 
come the  mighty  man,  who,  as  they  imagined,  was 
now  collecting  in  the  heavens  his  stores  of  rain. 

"  Just  as  he  was  descending  the  height  into  the 
town,  the  immense  concourse  danced  and  shouted,  so 
that  the  very  earth  rang,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
lightnings  darted,  and  the  thunders  roared  in  awful 
grandeur.  A  few  heavy  drops  fell,  which  produced 
the  most  thrilling  ecstacy  in  the  deluded  multitude, 
whose  ehontinga  battled  all  description.  Faith  hung 
upon  the  lips  of  the  impostor,  while  he  proclaimed 
aloud  that  this  year  the  women  must  cultivate  gardens 
on  the  hiljs  and  not  in  the  valleys,  for  the  latter  would 
be  deluged.  After  the  din  had  somewhat  subsided,  a 
few  individuals  came  to  our  dwellings  to  treat  us  ami 
our  doctrines  with  derision.  'Where  is  your  Godt1 
one  asked  with  a  sneer.  We  were  sileut,  because  the 
wicked    were   before   us.     *  Have  you   not   seen   our 


MOFFA  T'S  MISSION  A  R  Y  JO  URNE  VS.  35 

Morimo?  Have  you  not  beheld  him  cast  from  his 
arm  the  fiery  spears,  and  rend  the  heavens?  Have 
you  not  heard  with  your  ears  his  voice  in  the  clouds  ? ' 
adding  with  an  interjection  of  supreme  disgust,  '  Yon 
talk  of  Jehovah  and  Jesus,  what  can  they  do  % '  Never 
in  my  life  do  I  remember  a  text  being  brought  home 
with  such  power  as  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  'Be 
still,  and  know  that  I  am  God  :  I  wTill  be  exalted  among 
the  heathen.' 

"  The  rain-maker  found  the  clouds  in  our  country 
rather  harder  to  manage  than  those  he  had  left.  He 
complained  that  secret  rogues  were  disobeying  his 
proclamations.  When  urged  to  make  repeated  trials, 
he  would  reply,  '  You  only  give  me  sheep  and  goats  to 
kill,  therefore  I  can  only  make  goat-rain;  give  me  fat 
slaughter-oxen,  and  I  shall  let  you  see  ox-rain.'  One 
da}^,  as  he  was  taking  a  sound  sleep,  a  shower  fell,  on 
which  one  of  the  principal  men  entered  his  house  to 
congratulate  him,  but  to  his  utter  amazement  found 
him  totally  insensible  to  what  was  transpiring.  *  Hal- 
loo, by  my  father !  I  thought  you  wrere  making  rain,' 
said  the  intruder;  when  the  magician  arising  from  his 
slumbers,  and  seeing  his  wife  sitting  on  the  floor, 
shaking  a  milk-sack,  in  order  to  obtain  a  little  butter, 
to  anoint  her  hair,  he  replied,  pointing  to  the  operation 
of  churning,  '  Do  you  not  see  my  wife  churning  rain 
as  fast  as  she  can  ?  '  This  reply  gave  entire  satisfaction, 
and  it  presently  spread  through  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  town,  that  the  rain-maker  had  churned  the 
shower  out  of  a  milk-sack.  The  moisture  caused  by 
this  shower  was  dried  up  by  a  scorching  sun  ;  many 
long  weeks  followed  without  a  single  cloud,  and  when 


36  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

they  did  appear,  they  were  sometimes  seen,  to  the 
great  mortification  of  the  conjurer,  to  discharge  their 
watery  treasures  at  an  immense  distance. 

"  The  rain-maker  had  recourse  to  numerous  expe- 
dients and  stratagems,  and  continued  his  performances 
for  many  weeks.  All  his  efforts,  however,  proving 
unsuccessful,  he  kept  himself  very  secluded  for  a 
fortnight,  and,  after  cogitating  how  he  could  make  his 
own  cause  good,  he  appeared  in  the  public  fold,  and 
proclaimed  that  he  had  discovered  the  cause  of  the 
drought.  All  were  now  eagerly  listening  ;  he  dilated 
some  time,  until  he  had  raised  their  expectation  to  the 
highest  pitch,  when  he  revealed  the  mystery.  *  Do 
you  not  see,  when  clouds  come  over  us,  that  Hamilton 
and  Moffat  look  at  them  '( '  This  question  receiving  a 
hearty  and  unanimous  affirmation,  he  added  that  our 
white  faces  frightened  away  the  clouds,  and  they  need 
not  expect  rain  so  long  as  we  were  in  the  country. 
This  was  a  home-stroke,  and  it  was  an  easy  matter  for 
us  to  calculate  what  the  influence  of  such  a  charge 
Mould  be  on  the  public  mind.  We  were  very  soon 
in  fori ncd  of  the  evil  of  our  conduct,  to  which  we 
plead  guilty,  promising  that  as  we  were  nut  aware 
that  we  were  doing  wrong,  being  as  anxious  as  any  of 
them  for  rain,  we  would  willingly  look  to  our  chins, 
or  the  ground  all  the  day  long,  if  it  would  serve  their 
purpose.  It  was  rather  remarkable,  that  much  as  they 
admired  my  long  black  board,  they  thought  that  in 
this  case  it  was  most  to  blame.  However,  this  season 
of  trial  passed  over  to  our  great  comfort,  though  it 
was  followed  for  some  time  with  many  indications  of 
suspicion  and  distrust." 


MOFFA  T'S  MISSION  A  R  Y  JO  URNE  VS.  37 

For  a  number  of  years  Mr.  Moffat  continued  Lis 
missionary  labors,  gradually  extending  liis  journeys 
further  into  the  interior.  He  made  the  acquaintance 
of  the  Barolon^  tribe,  who  live  to  the  north  of  the 
Bechuana,  among  the  Bawangwato  Mountains,  which 
divide  the  waters  of  the  Orange  River  from  the  Kal- 
ihari  Desert.  His  accounts  of  the  character  and  cus- 
toms of  the  native  tribes  are  very  thorough  and  com- 
plete ;  and  if  he  gives  us  few  geographical  details,  he 
at  least  opened  the  way  for  geographical  explorers. 

His  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  conversion 
of  the  natives  is  preceded  or  accompanied  by  external 
signs,  entirely  corresponds  with  the  later  observations 
of  Livingstone.  "  For  a  long  period,"  he  says,  "  when  a 
man  was  seen  to  make  a  pair  of  trowsers  for  himself,  or 
a  woman  a  gown,  it  was  a  sure  indication  that  we 
might  expect  additions  to  our  inquirers.  Abandoning 
the  custom  of  painting  the  body,  and  beginning  to 
wash  with  water,  was  with  them  what  cutting  off  the 
hair  was  among  the  South-Sea  islanders, — a  public  re- 
nunciation of  heathenism.  In  the  progress  of  improve- 
ment during  the  years  which  followed,  and  by  which 
many  individuals  who  made  no  profession  of  the 
Gospel  were  influenced,  we  were  frequently  much 
amused.  A  man  might  be  seen  in  a  jacket  with  but  one 
sleeve,  because  the  other  was  not  finished,  or  he  lacked 
material  to  complete  it ;  another  in  a  leathern  or  duf- 
fle jacket,  with  the  sleeves  of  different  colors,  or  of  fine 
printed  cotton.  Gowns  were  seen  like  Joseph's  coat 
of  many  colors,  and  dresses  of  such  fantastic  shapes  as 
were  calculated  to   excite  a  smile  in  the  gravest   of 


38  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

In  the  course  of  time  the  missionary  stations  were 
pushed  as  far  as  the  village  of  Kolobeng,  on  the  head- 
waters of  the  Limpopo,  in  Lat.  24°  S.,  and  consequently 
near  the  tropical  line.  The  unknown  territory  to  the 
north-east  of  this  point,  lying  between  the  Limpopo  and 
Zambesi  rivers,  was  inhabited  by  the  Matsebele,  a 
branch  of  the  Kaffers,  whose  chief,  Mosilikatse,  had 
acquired  great  renown  through  South  Africa,  carrying 
his  hostile  inroads  in  all  directions,  even  as  far  as  the 
Orange  River.  In  1829  two  messengers  of  the  chief 
visited  the  country  of  the  Bechuanas,  and  Mr.  Moffat 
determined  to  accompany  them  on  their  return.  It 
was  a  hazardous  journey,  but  the  intrepid  missionary 
was  not  to  be  turned  aside  from  his  purpose.  On  the 
way,  he  fell  in  with  a  tribe  of  natives  which  no  white 
man  had  ever  before  seen. 

On  reaching  the  first  cattle  outposts  of  the  Matse- 
bele tribe,  they  encamped  beside  a  line  rivulet.  "  My 
attention,"  says  Mr.  Moffat,  "  was  arrested  by  a  beau- 
tiful and  gigantic  tree,  standing  in  a  defile  leading 
into  an  extensive  and  woody  ravine,  between  a  high 
range  of  mountains.  Seeing  some  individuals  em- 
ployed on  the  ground  under  its  shade,  and  the  conical 
points  of  what  looked  like  houses  in  miniature  pro- 
truding through  its  evergreen  foliage4,  I  proceeded 
thither,  and  found  that  the  tree  was  inhabited  1>\  sev- 
eral families  of  Bakones,  the  aborigines  of  the  country. 
I  ascended  by  the  notched  trunk,  and  found,  to  my 
amazement,  no  less  than  seventeen  of  these  aerial 
abodes,  and  three  others  unfinished.  On  reaching  the 
topmost  hut,  about  thirty  feet  from  the  ground,  I  en- 
tered and  sat  down.     Its  only  furniture  was  the  hay 


MOFFA  T '  S  MISSION  A  RY  JO  URNE  VS.  39 

which  covered  the  floor,  a  spear,  a  spoon,  and  a  bowl- 
full  of  locusts.  Not  having  eaten  anything  that  day, 
and,  from  the  novelty  of  my  situation,  not  wishing  to 
return  immediately  to  the  wagons,  I  asked  a  woman, 
who  sat  at  the  door  with  a  babe  at  her  breast,  permis- 
sion to  eat.  This  she  granted  with  pleasure,  and  soon 
brought  me  more,  in  a  powdered  state.  Several  more 
females  came  from  the  neighboring  roosts,  stepping 
from  branch  to  branch  to  see  the  stranger,  who  was  as 
great  a  curiosity  to  them  as  the  tree  was  to  him.  I 
then  visited  the  different  abodes,  which  were  on  sev- 
eral principal  branches.  The  structure  of  these  houses 
was  very  simple.  An  oblong  scaffold,  about  seven 
feet  wide,  is  formed  of  straight  sticks ;  on  one  end  of 
this  platform  a  small  cone  is  formed,  also  of  straight 
sticks,  and  thatched  with  grass.  A  person  can  nearly 
stand  upright  in  it ;  the  diameter  of  the  floor  is  about 
six  feet.  The  house  stands  on  the  end  of  the  oblong, 
so  as  to  leave  a  little  square  space  before  the  door. 
On  the  day  previous  I  had  passed  several  villages, 
some  containing  forty  houses,  all  built  on  poles  about 
seven  or  eight  feet  from  the  ground,  in  the  form  of  a 
circle;  the  ascent  and  descent  are  by  a  knotty  branch 
of  a  tree  placed  in  front  of  the  house.  In  the  centre 
of  the  circle  there  is  always  a  heap  of  the  bones  of  the 
game  they  have  killed.  Such  were  the  domiciles  of 
the  impoverished  thousands  of  the  aborigines  of  the 
country,  who,  having  been  scattered  and  peeled  by 
Mosilikatse,  had  neither  herd  nor  stall,  but  subsisted 
on  locusts,  roots,  and  the  chase.  They  adopted  this 
mode  of  architecture  to  escape  the  lions  which  abound 
in  that  country." 


£0  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

Mr.  Moffat  was  kindly  received  by  the  chief,  Mo 

silikatse,  who  patiently  listened  to  his  instructions,  but 
does  not  appear  to  have  profited  by  them.  lie  re- 
turned in  safety  to  the  Bechuana  country,  and  finally, 
in  the  years  1837  and  1838,  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  a  great  and  wide-spread  movement  among  the 
natives  to  adopt  Christianity  and  accustom  themselves 
to  settled  and  industrious  habits  of  life. 

More  than  any  other  man,  Mr.  Moffat  opened  the 
interior  of  South  Africa,  from  the  Orange  River  to 
the  tropical  line,  and  when  he  relaxed  from  his  long 
and  arduous  task,  there  was  another  ready  to  take  it 
up  and  carry  it  so  far  that  we  may  safely  say  that  no 
other  individual  has  contributed  so  much  to  our 
knowledge  of  the  unknown  interior  of  Africa.  This 
man,  who  took  Moffat's  daughter  as  his  wife,  and  made 
her  the  companion  of  his  first  journeys  of  exploration, 
was  David  Livingstone. 


HIPPOPOTAMUS   TRAP. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

LIVINGSTONE'S   DISCOVERY   OF   IAKE   NGAMI. 

DR.  LIVINGSTONE,  in  the  opening  chapter  of 
his  "  Travels  and  Researches  in  South  Africa," 
gives  an  interesting  description  of  his  youth,  and  the 
manner  in  which  he  educated  himself  for  the  missionary 
field,  not  then  anticipating  a  life  of  discovery.  His 
father  was  a  small  tradesman  in  a  village  near  Glasgow, 
and  his  own  early  years  were  spent  in  a  cotton  factory, 
where  he  acquired  the  scanty  means  which  were  neces- 
sary for  a  limited  education.  He  studied  Latin  at 
night,  read  all  books  upon  which  he  could  lay  his 
hands,  preferring  scientific  works  and  books  of  travel, 
and  finally,  having  been  brought  up  by  his  parents 
under  strict  religious  influences,  determined  to  qualify 
himself  for  the  office  of  missionary  among  the  Chinese. 
While  working  as  a  cotton-spinner,  at  the  age  of 
nineteen,  he  contrived  to  carry  on  his  studies  in  Greek, 
divinity  and  medicine,  and  without  aid  from  any  one 
succeeded  in  graduating  in  the  latter  branch.  At  this 
time  some  friends  advised  him  to  apply  to  the  Lon- 
don Missionary  Society,  on  account  of  its  unsectarian 
character.  The  opium  war,  which  was  then  raging, 
interfered  with  his  original  plan  of  going  to  China, 
and,  after  having  been  accepted  by  the  London  Society, 
and  prepared  himself  still  further  by  a  course  of  the- 


i2  DISCO  VER  Y  OF  LAKE  NGAMI. 

ology  in  England,  lie  was  induced  to  look  upon  South 
Africa  as  the  Held  of  his  future  labors.  In  1840  he 
sailed  from  England,  a  young  man  of  twenty-two,  full 
of  health,  strength,  hope,  and  courage. 

The  general  instructions  which  he  received  from 
the  Directors  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  led 
him,  as  soon  as  he  had  reached  Kurnman,  which  was 
then  their  farthest  inland  station  from  the  Cape,  to 
turn  his  attention  to  the  regions  lying  north  of  that 
point.  He  therefore  lost  no  time  in  visiting  the  Bak- 
wain  country  and  making  the  acquaintance  of  the 
chief  Sechele.  The  result  of  this  trip  was  that  he  es- 
tablished himself  in  a  spot,  fifteen  miles  from  the 
chief's  residence;  and  there,  in  order  to  obtain  an  ac- 
curate knowledge  of  the  language,  cut  himself  oft' from 
all  European  society  for  six  months.  lie  thus  gained 
an  insight  into  the  habits,  ways  of  thinking,  laws  and 
language  of  that  section  of  the  Bechnanas  called  Bak- 
wains,  which  proved  to  be  of  incalculable  advantage 
in  his  later  travels.  During  a  journey  to  the  north  in 
1842,  he  was,  without  knowing  it,  within  ten  days  of 
the  waters  flowing  into  Lake  Ngami,  and  might  then 
have  discovered  that  lake,  if  discovery  had  been  his 
object. 

Having  finally  selected  the  beautiful  valley  of  Ma- 
botsa  (in  Lat.  25°  14'  S.)  as  the  site  of  a  new  mission- 
ary station,  he  settled  there  in  1843.  Here  an  occur- 
rence took  place,  which  came  near  putting  an  end  to  his 
adventurous  career.  The  neighborhood  was  infected 
with  lions,  which  even  attacked  the  herds  of  the  na- 
tives in  open  day.  This  was  so  unusual  an  occurrence 
that  the  people  believed  they  were  bewitched,  that  is, 


DISCOVER  Y  OF  LAKE  NGAMI.  43 

given  into  the  power  of  the  lions  by  a  neighboring 
tribe.  What  followed  must  be  given  in  Livingstone's 
own  words : 

"It  is  well  known  that  if  one  of  a  troop  of  lions  is 
killed,  the  others  take  the  hint  and  leave  that  part  of 
the  country.  So,  the  next  time  the  herds  were  at- 
tacked, I  went  with  the  people,  in  order  to  encourage 
them  to  rid  themselves  of  the  annoyance  by  destroying 
one  of  the  marauders.  We  found  the  lions  on  a  small 
hill  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length,  and  covered 
with  trees.  A  circle  of  men  was  formed  round  it,  and 
they  gradually  closed  up,  ascending  pretty  near  to  each 
other.  Being  down  below  on  the  plain  with  a  native 
schoolmaster,  named  Mebalwe,  a  most  excellent  man, 
I  saw  one  of  the  lions  sitting  on  a  piece  of  rock  within 
the  now  closed  circle  of  men.  Mebalwe  fired  at  him 
before  I  could,  and  the  ball  struck  the  rock  on  which 
the  animal  was  sitting.  He  bit  at  the  spot  struck,  as 
a  dog  does  at  a  stick  or  stone  thrown  at  him;  then 
leaping  away,  broke  through  the  opening  circle  and 
escaped  unhurt.  The  men  were  afraid  to  attack  him, 
perhaps  on  account  of  their  belief  in  witchcraft. 
When  the  circle  was  re-formed,  we  saw  two  other 
lions  in  it;  but  we  were  afraid  to  fire  lest  we  should 
strike  the  men,  and.  they  allowed  the  beasts  to  burst 
through  also.  If  the  Bakatla  had  acted  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  county  they  would  have  speared 
the  lions  in  their  attempt  to  get  out.  Seeing  we  could 
not  get  them  to  kill  one  of  the  lions,  we  bent  our  foot- 
steps toward  the  village ;  in  going  round  the  end  of 
the  hill,  however,  I  saw  one  of  the  beasts  sitting  on  a 
piece  of  rock  as  before,  but  this  time  he  had  a  little 


44  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

bush  in  front.  Being  about  thirty  yards  oft',  I  took  a 
good  aim  at  his  body  through  the  bush,  and  fired  both 
barrels  into  it.  The  men  then  called  out, '  He  is  shot, 
he  is  shot ! '  Others  cried,  '  He  has  been  shot  by  an- 
other man  too;  let  us  go  to  him!'  I  did  not  see 
any  one  else  shoot  at  him,  but  I  saw  the  lion's  tail 
erected  in  anger  behind  the  bush,  and,  turning  to  the 
people,  said,  '  Stop  a  little,  till  I  load  again.'  When 
in  the  act  of  ramming  down  the  bullets,  I  heard  a 
shout.  Starting,  and  looking  half  round,  I  saw  the 
lion  just  in  the  act  of  springing  upon  me.  I  was  upon 
a  little  height ;  he  caught  my  shoulder  as  he  sprang, 
and  we  both  came  to  the  ground  below  together. 
Growling  horribly  close  to  my  ear,  he  shook  me  as  a 
terrier  dog  does  a  rat.  The  shock  produced  a  stupor 
similar  to  that  which  seems  to  be  felt  by  a  mouse  after 
the  first  shake  of  the  cat.  It  caused  a  sort  of  dreami- 
ness, in  which  there  was  no  sense  of  pain  nor  feeling  of 
terror,  though  quite  conscious  of  all  that  was  happening. 
It  was  like  what  patients  partially  under  the  inliuence 
of  chloroform  describe,  who  see  all  the  operation,  but 
feel  not  the  knife.  This  singular  condition  was  not 
the  result  of  any  mental  process.  The  shake  annihil- 
ated fear,  and  allowed  no  sense  of  horror  in  looking 
round  at  the  beast.  This  peculiar  state  is  probably 
produced  in  all  animals  killed  by  the  earnivora ;  and 
if  so,  is  a  merciful  provision  by  our  benevolent  Creator 
for  lessening  the  pain  of  death.  Turning  round  to  re- 
lieve myself  of  the  weight,  as  he  had  one  paw  on  the 
back  of  my  head,  I  saw  his  eyes  directed  to  Mehalwc, 
who  was  trying  to  shoot  him  at  a  distance  often  <>r 
fifteen  yards.     His  gun,  a  flint  one,  nii>sed  fire  in  both 


LIVINGSTONE  ATTACKED  BY   A  LION. 


DISCO  VER  Y  OF  LAKE  NGAMI.  45 

barrels ;  the  lion  immediately  left  me,  and,  attack- 
ing Mebalwe,  bit  his  thigh.  Another  man,  whose  life 
I  had  saved  before,  after  he  had  been  tossed  by  a  buf- 
falo, attempted  to  spear  the  lion  while  he  was  biting 
Mebalwe.  He  left  Mebalwe  and  caught  this  man  by 
the  shoulder,  but  at  that  moment  the  bullets  he  had 
received  took  effect,  and  he  fell  down  dead.  Tie 
whole  was  the  work  of  a  few  moments,  and  must  have 
been  his  paroxysms  of  dying  rage.  In  order  to  take 
out  the  charm  from  him,  the  Bakatla  on  the  following 
day  made  a  huge  bonfire  over  the  carcass,  which  was 
declared  to  be  that  of  the  largest  lion  they  had  ever 
seen.  Besides  crunching  the  bone  into  splinters,  he 
left  eleven  teeth  wounds  on  the  upper  part  of  my 
arm. 

"A  wound  from  this  animal's  tooth  resembles  a 
gun-shot  wound ;  it  is  generally  followed  by  a  great 
deal  of  sloughing  and  discharge,  and  pains  are  felt  in 
the  part  periodically  ever  afterward.  Iliad  on  a  tartan 
jacket  on  the  occasion,  and  I  believe  that  it  wiped  off 
all  the  virus  from  the  teeth  that  pierced  the  flesh,  for 
my  two  companions  in  this  affray  have  both  suffered 
from  the  peculiar  pains,  while  I  have  escaped  with 
only  the  inconvenience  of  a  false  joint  in  my  limb. 
The  man  whose  shoulder  was  wounded  showed  me  his 
wound  actually  burst  forth  afresh  on  the  same  month 
of  the  following  year.  This  curious  point  deserves  the 
attention  of  inquirers." 

Livingstone  was  as  successful  with  the  chief  Sechele 
as  Moffat  had  been  with  Africaner.  He  converted 
him  and  his  family,  and  acquired  so  much  influence 
with  the  people,  that  he  persuaded  them  to  settle  upon 


46  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

the  Kolobeng  River,  and  cultivate  the  soil.  For  years 
the  colony  was  visited  by  a  terrible  drought,  and  an- 
noyed by  the  hostility  of  the  Boers  of  the  Transvaal 
Republic,  who  were  now  their  near  neighbors,  and 
who  retained  their  old  habits  of  compelling  the  natives 
to  labor  for  them  without  pay.  Livingstone's  endeav- 
ors to  protect  the  people  only  brought  upon  himself 
the  jealousy  and  enmity  of  the  Boers,  who  finally 
devastated  the  settlement  at  Kolobeng  and  plundered 
his  house,  during  his  absence  in  1S52. 

The  projected  journey  into  the  Kalihari  Desert, 
and  the  search  for  the  great  lake  Ngami,  accounts  of 
which  had  been  received  from  the  natives  long  before, 
was  delayed  for  some  years  by  these  troubles.  The 
Bechuanas,  also,  had  a  superstitious  terror  of  the  desert, 
and  it  was  not  easy  to  induce  them  to  accompany  the 
expedition.  But  early  in  1849,  two  English  gentle- 
men, Messrs.  Oswell  and  Murray,  offered  to  join  Liv- 
ingstone, and  he  immediately  made  preparations  for 
the  journey.  lie  had  married  the  daughter  of  Moffat 
some  years  before,  and  determined  to  take  his  wife 
and  children  with  him.  It  was  a  fortunate  circum- 
stance, that,  while  they  were  preparing,  a  party  of 
natives  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  lake  came  to 
Kolobeng,  with  an  invitation  to  Livingstone  from 
their  chief. 

The  party  started  on  the  1st  of  June,  and  after 
travelling  five  or  six  days  towards  the  Bamangwato 
Mountains,  struck  off  northward  into  the  Kalihari 
Desert.  This  is  not  a  sandy  region,  destitute  of  veg- 
etable and  animal  life,  for  it  is  covered  with  grass  and  a 
great  variety  of  creeping  plants ;  besides  which  there 


DISCO  VER  Y  OF  LAKE  NGAMI.  4.7 

are  large  patches  of  bushes,  and  even  trees.  It  is  flat, 
but  occasionally  crossed  by  the  beds  of  ancient  rivers, 
and  the  abundant  grass  supports  immense  herds  of  ante- 
lopes, who  require  little  or  no  water.  The  number  of 
tuberous-rooted  plants  is  very  great,  and  many  varieties 
of  them  supply  both  food  and  drink  to  the  -wandering 
tribes.  One  of  these,  indicated  on  the  surface  only  by 
a  thin,  grass-like  blade,  has  a  root  the  size  of  a  child's 
head,  at  the  depth  of  eighteen  inches;  the  rind  is 
filled  with  a  cool,  juicy  pulp,  with  a  flavor  like  that  of 
a  turnip.  After  rains,  great  tracts  of  the  desert  are 
covered  with  wild  watermelons  and  scarlet  cucumbers, 
some  of  which  are  intensely  bitter  and  poisonous, 
while  others  are  entirely  sweet  and  wholesome. 

At  a  station  called  Seroti,  the  travellers  were 
obliged  to  dig  trenches  in  the  soil,  and  wait  until  they 
slowly  filled  with  water  for  their  oxen,  since  there 
was  a  waterless  tract,  seventy  miles  in  breadth,  to  be 
crossed.  But  the  soil  was  sandy,  and  the  progress  of 
the  wagons  very  slow ;  at  the  end  of  three  days  they 
had  only  made  forty-four  miles.  The  horses  were  sent  in 
advance  with  some  natives,  but  the  latter  lost  their 
way,  and  rejoined  the  thirsty  caravan.  From  this  state 
of  suffering  they  were  relieved  by  the  discovery  of  a 
pool  of  rain-water,  and  soon  afterwards  reached  the 
dry  bed  of  a  river  named  Mokoko.  They  again  lost 
their  way,  and  were  guided  to  a  ^vatering-place  by  a 
lonely  Bushwoman  whom  they  found  in  the  desert. 
Beyond  this  they  crossed  saline  plains,  where  the  mir- 
age constantly  cheated  them  into  the  belief  that  they 
had  found  Lake  Ngami,  although  it  was  still  three 
hundred  miles  distant. 


48  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

On  the  4th  of  July  they  reached  the  Zouga  River, 
which  flowed  in  a  north-easterly  direction.  The  natives 
assured  them  that  the  water  came  from  the  lake.  Here 
two  men  of  the  Bamangwato  tribe,  who  had  accompa- 
nied them,  started  in  advance,  up  the  river,  circulating 
reports  among  the  natives  that  the  object  of  the  strang- 
ers was  to  plunder  them.  This  might  have  occasioned 
much  difficulty,  had  not  one  of  the  men  been  stricken 
with  fever,  and  soon  died.  The  people  connected  his 
death  in  some  way  with  the  fact  that  he  was  trying 
to  injure  the  strangers,  and,  although  they  were  armed 
at  first,  they  soon  became  friendly  and  confiding. 

"  When  we  had  gone  up  the  bank  of  this  beautiful 
river  about  ninety-six  miles  from  the  point  where  we 
first  struck  it,"  says  Livingstone,  "and  understood  that 
we  were  still  a  considerable  distance  from  the  Kgami, 
we  left  all  the  oxen  and  wagons,  except  Mr.  Oswell's, 
which  was  the  smallest,  and  one  team,  atNgabisane,  in 
the  hope  that  they  would  be  recruited  for  the  home  jour- 
ney, while  we  made  a  push  for  the  lake.  The  Bechu- 
ana  chief  of  the  Lake  region,  who  had  sent  men  to 
Sechele,  now  sent  orders  to  all  the  people  on  the  river 
to  assist  us,  and  we  were  received  by  the  Bakoba,  whose 
language  clearly  shows  that  they  bear  an  affinity  to  the 
tribes  in  the  north.  They  call  themselves  Bajeiye, 
i.  e.,  men  ;  but  the  Bechuanas  call  them  Bakoba,  which 
contains  somewhat  of  the  idea  of  slaves.  They  have 
never  been  known  to  light,  and  indeed  have  a  tradi- 
tion that  their  forefathers,  in  their  first  essays  at  war, 
made  their  bows  of  the  Talma  Christi,  and,  when  these 
broke,  they  gave  up  fighting  altogether.  They  have 
invariably  submitted  to  the  rule  of  every  horde  which 


DISCO  VER  Y  OF  LAKE  NGAML  49 

has  overrun  the  countries  adjacent  to  the  rivers  on 
which  they  specially  love  to  dwell.  They  are  thus  the 
Quakers  of  the  body  politic  in  Africa. 

"  The  canoes  of  these  inland  sailors  are  truly  primi- 
tive craft:  they  are  hollowed  out  of  the  trunks  of 
single  trees  by  means  of  iron  adzes;  and  if  the  tree 
has  a  bend,  so  has  the  canoe.  I  liked  the  frank  and 
manly  bearing  of  these  men,  and,  instead  of  sitting  in 
the  wagon,  preferred  a  seat  in  one  of  the  canoes.  I 
found  they  regarded  their  rude  vessels  as  the  Arab 
does  his  camel.  They  have  always  tires  in  them,  and 
prefer  sleeping  in  them  while  on  a  journey  to  spending 
the  night  on  shore.  '  On  land  you  have  lions,'  say 
they,  'serpents,  hyaenas,  and  your  enemies;  but  in 
your  canoe,  behind  a  bank  of  reed,  nothing  can  harm 
you.'  Their  submissive  disposition  leads  to  their  vil- 
lages being  frequently  visited  by  hungry  strangers. 
We  had  a  pot  on  the  lire  in  the  canoe  by  the  way,  and 
when  we  drew  near  the  villages  devoured  the  contents. 
When  fully  satisfied  ourselves,  I  found  we  could  all 
look  upon  any  intruders  with  perfect  complacency,  and 
show  the  pot  in  proof  of  having  devoured  the  last 
morsel. 

"  Twelve  days  after  our  departure  from  the  wagons 
at  Ngabisane  we  came  to  the  north-east  end  of  Lake 
Ngami;  and  on  the  1st  of  August,  1849,  we  went 
down  together  to  the  broad  part,  and,  for  the  first  time, 
this  fine  looking  sheet  of  water  wras  beheld  by  Euro- 
peans. The  direction  of  the  lake  seemed  to  be  N.jN.E. 
and  S.S.W.  by  compass.  The  southern  portion  is  said 
to  bend  round  to  the  west,  and  to  receive  the  Teoughe 
from  the  north  at  its  northwest  extremity.  We  could 
4 


50  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

detect  no  horizon  where  we  stood  lcoking  S.S.W.,  nor 
nor  could  we  form  any  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  lake, 
except  from  the  reports  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  dis- 
trict ;  and,  as  they  profess  to  go  round  it  in  three  days, 
allowing  twenty-fi ve  miles  a  day  would  make  it  seventy- 
five,  or  less  than  seventy  geographical  miles  in  circum- 
ference. Other  guesses  have  been  made  since  as  to  its 
circumference,  ranging  between  seventy  and  one  hun- 
dred miles.  It  is  shallow,  for  I  subsequently  saw  a 
native  punting  his  canoe  over  seven  or  eight  miles  of 
the  north-east  end ;  it  can  never,  therefore,  be  of  much 
value  as  a  commercial  highway.  In  fact,  during  the 
months  preceding  the  annual  supply  of  water  from  the 
north,  the  lake  is  so  shallow  that  it  is  with  difficulty 
cattle  can  approach  the  water  through  the  boggy, 
reedy  banks.  These  are  low  on  all  sides,  but  on  the 
west  there  is  a  space  devoid  of  trees,  showing  that  tho 
waters  have  retired  thence  at  no  very  ancient  date. 
This  is  another  of  the  proofs  of  desiccation  met  with 
so  abundantly  throughout  the  whole  country.  A  num- 
ber of  dead  trees  lie  on  this  space,  sonic  of  them  im- 
bedded in  the  mud,  right  in  the  water.  We  were 
informed  by  the  Bayeiye,  who  live  on  the  lake,  that 
when  the  annual  inundation  begins,  not  only  trees  of 
great  size,  but  antelopes,  are  swept  down  by  its  rush- 
ing waters ;  the  trees  are  gradually  driven  by  the 
the  winds  to  the  opposite  side,  and  become  imbedded 
in  mud. 

"The  water  of  the  lake  is  perfectly  fresh  when  full, 
but  brackish  when  low;  and  that  coming  down  the 
Tamunakle  we  found  to  be  60  clear,  cold,  and 
soft,  tha  higher  we  ascended,  tha*  the  idea  of  melting 


DISCO  VER  V  OF  LA  KE  NGAMI.  51 

snow  was  suggested  to  our  minds.  We  found  this 
region,  with  regard  to  that  from  which  we  had  come, 
to  be  clearly  a  hollow,  the  lowest  point  being  Lake 
Kumadan  ;  the  point  of  the  ebullition  of  water,  as 
shown  by  one  of  Newman's  barometric  thermometers, 
was  only  between  207^-°  and  206°,  giving  an  elevation 
of  not  much  more  than  two  thousand  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  "We  had  descended  above  two  thou- 
sand feet  in  coming  to  it  from  Kolobeng.  It  is  the 
southern  and  lowest  part  of  the  great  river  system  be- 
yond, in  which  large  tracts  of  country  are  inundated 
annually  by  tropical  rains. 

"My  chief  object  in  coming  to  the  lake  was  to 
visit  Sebituane,  the  great  chief  of  the  Makololo,  who 
was  reported  to  live  some  two  hundred  miles  beyond. 
We  had  now  come  to  a  half-tribe  of  the  Bamangwato, 
called  Batauana.  Their  chief  was  a  young  man 
named  Lechulatebe.  Sebituane  had  conquered  his 
father  Moremi,  and  Lechulatebe  received  part  of  his 
education  while  a  captive  among  the  Bayeiye.  His 
uncle,  a  sensible  man,  ransomed  him  ;  and,  having  col- 
lected a  number  of  families  together,  abdicated  the 
chieftainship  in  favor  of  his  nephew.  As  Lechulatebe 
had  just  come  into  power,  he  imagined  that  the 
proper  way  of  showing  his  abilities  was  to  act  directly 
contrary  to  everything  that  his  uncle  advised.  When 
we  came,  the  uncle  recommended  him  to  treat  us 
handsomely,  therefore  the  hopeful  youth  presented  us 
with  a  goat  only.  It  ought  to  have  been  an  ox.  So  I 
proposed  to  my  companions  to  loose  the  animal  and 
let  him  go,  as  a  hint  to  his  master.  They,  however,  did 
not  wish  to  insult  him.     [,  being  more  of  a  native, 


5 2  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  UTII  AFRICA. 

and  familiar  with  their  customs,  knew  that  this 
shabby  present  was  an  insult  to  us.  We  wished  to 
purchase  some  goats  or  oxen ;  Lechulatebe  offered  us 
elephants'  tusks.  'No,  we  cannot  eat  these;  we  want 
something  to  fill  our  stomachs.'  'Neither  can  I; 
but  I  hear  you  white  men  are  all  very  fond  of  these 
bones,  so  I  offer  them ;  I  want  to  put  the  goats  into 
my  own  stomach.'  A  trader,  who  accompanied  us, 
was  then  purchasing  ivory  at  the  rate  of  ten  good 
large  tusks  for  a  musket  worth  thirteen  shillings. 
They  were  called  'bones;'  and  I  myself  saw  eight 
instances  in  which  the  tusks  had  been  left  to  rot  with 
the  other  bones  where  the  elephant  fell.  The  Bata- 
uana  never  had  a  chance  of  a  market  before ;  but,  in 
less  than  two  years  after  our  discovery,  not  a  man  of 
them  could  be  found  who  was  not  keenly  alive  to  the 
great  value  of  the  article. 

"  On  the  day  after  our  arrival  at  the  lake,  I  applied 
to  Lechulatebe  for  guides  to  Sebituane.  As  he  was 
much  afraid  of  that  chief,  he  objected,  fearing  lest 
other  white  men  should  go  thither  also,  and  give  Seb- 
ituane guns ;  whereas,  if  the  traders  came  to  him 
alone,  the  possession  of  tire-arms  would  give  him  such 
a  superiority,  that  Sebituane  would  be  afraid  of  him. 
It  was  in  vain  to  explain  that  I  would  inculcate  pe 
between  them — that  Sebituane  had  been  a  father  to 
him  and  Sechele,  and  was  as  anxious  to  see  me,  as  1k\ 
Lechulatebe,  had  been.  He  offered  to  give  m< 
much  ivory  as  I  needed  without  going  to  that  chief; 
but  when  I  refused  to  take  any,  he  unwillingly  con 
tented  to  give  me  guides.  Next  day,  however,  when 
Oswell   and  I  were  prepared  to  start,  with  the  horses 


DISCO  VER  Y  OF  LA  KE  NGA  Ml.  5  3 

only,  we  received  a  senseless  refusal ;  and  like  Sekomi, 
who  had  thrown  obstacles  in  our  way,  he  sent  men  to 
Bayeiye  with  orders  to  refuse  us  a  passage  across  the 
river.  Trying  hard  to  form  a  raft  at  a  narrow  part,  I 
worked  many  hours  in  the  water ;  but  the  dry  wood 
was  so  worm-eaten  that  it  would  not  bear  the  weight 
Df  a  single  person.  I  was  not  then  aware  of  the  num- 
ber of  alligators  which  exist  in  the  Zouga,  and  never 
think  of  my  labor  in  the  water,  without  feeling  thank- 
ful that  I  escaped  their  jaws  The  season  wras  now  far 
advanced ;  and  as  Mr.  Oswell,  with  his  wonted  gener- 
ous feelings,  volunteered,  on  the  spot,  to  go  down  to 
the  Cape  and  bring  up  a  boat,  we  resolved  to  make  our 
way  south  again." 

The  Makololo  tribe,  of  which  Livingstone  speaks, 
were  destined  to  play  a  very  important  part  in  his  later 
explorations.  Although  disappointed  in  his  first  at- 
tempt to  visit  them,  he  had  at  least  found  a  practicable 
way  by  which  the  interior  of  the  continent  might  be 
reached.  The  discovery  of  Lake  Ngami  was  received 
in  Europe  with  great  interest,  and  this  success  encour- 
aged the  London  Missionary  Society  to  employ  Living- 
stone thenceforth  in  that  work  of  exploration,  which 
must,  to  some  extent,  precede  the  labors  of  the  mis- 
sionary. The  immense  numbers  of  elephants,  also 
which  the  travellers  found  on  descending  the  Zouga 
River,  drew  the  attention  of  sportsmen  and  traders  to 
this  region,  and  hastened  the  opening  of  the  entire  re- 
gion to  the  southward  and  westward  of  the  lake. 

The  return  journey  was  accomplished  without  ac- 
cident, and  the  party  reached  Kolobeng  towards  the 
close  of  the  vear  1849. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Livingstone's  first  journky  to  the  zambesi. 

IN  April,  1850,  Livingstone  again  left  Kolobeng  with 
his  wife,  three  children,  and  the  chief  Sechele,  their 
object  being  to  cross  the  Zonga  at  its  lower  end,  follow 
the  northern  bank  until  they  reached  the  other  river, 
and  then  ascend  the  latter  until  they  should  find  the 
Makololo  country.  The  journey  was  prosecuted  with- 
out much  difficulty  until,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Zouga 
with  the  Tamunakle,  the  appearance  of  the  fly  called 
tsetse  obliged  them  to  cross  the  former  river  in  order 
to  save  their  oxen.  Here  Livingstone  .learned  that  a 
party  of  Englishmen,  who  had  come  to  the  lake  in 
search  of  ivory,  were  lying  ill  of  fever,  and  turned 
aside  for  a  time  to  take  care  of  them. 

The  result  of  the  undertaking,  which  promised  so 
favorably,  up  to  the  last  moment,  will  be  best  given 
in  Livingstone's  own  words:  "Sechele  \i±vd  all  his 
powers  of  eloquence  with  Lechulatebe  to  induce  him 
to  furnish  guides  that  I  might  be  able  to  visit  Sebi- 
tuane  on  ox-back,  while  Mrs.  Livingstone  and  the 
children  remained  at  Lake  N  garni.  He  yielded  at 
last.  I  had  a  very  superior  London-made  gun,  the 
qilt  of  Lieutenant  Arkwright,  on  which  I  placed  the 
greatest  value,  both  on  account  of  the  donor  and  the 
impossibility  of  my  replacing  it.  Lechulatebe  fell 
violently  in  love  with  it,  and  otfered  whatever  number 


JOURNEY  TO  THE  ZAMBESI.  55 

of  elephants'  tusks  I  might  ask  for  it.  I,  too,  was 
enamored  with  Sebituane ;  and  as  he  promised  in 
addition  that  he  would  furnish  Mrs.  Livingstone  with 
meat  all  the  time  of  my  absence,  his  arguments  made 
me  part  with  the  gun.  Though  he  had  no  ivory  at 
the  time  to  pay  me,  I  felt  the  piece  would  be  well 
spent  on  those  terms,  and  delivered  it  to  him.  All 
being  ready  for  our  departure,  I  took  Mrs.  Livingstone 
about  six  miles  from  the  town,  that  she  might  have  a 
peep  at  the  broad  part  of  the  lake.  Next  morning  we 
had  other  work  to  do  than  part,  for  our  little  boy  and 
girl  were  seized  with  fever.  On  the  day  following,  all 
our  servants  were  down,  too,  with  the  same  complaint. 
As  nothing  is  better  in  these  cases  than  change  of 
place,  I  was  forced  to  give  up  the  hope  of  seeing 
Sebituane  that  year  ;  so,  leaving  my  gun  as  part  pay- 
ment for  guides  next  year,  we  started  for  the  pure 
air  of  the  Desert. 

"  Some  mistake  had  happened  in  the  arrangement 
with  Mr.  Oswell,  for  we  met  him  on  the  Zouga  on  our 
return,  and  he  devoted  the  rest  of  this  season  to  ele 
pliant-hunting,  at  which  the  natives  universally  declare 
he  is  the  greatest  adept  that  ever  came  into  the  coun- 
try. He  hunted  without  dogs.  It  is  remarkable  that 
this  lordly  animal  is  so  completely  harassed  by  the 
presence  of  a  few  yelping  curs,  as  to  be  quite  incapable 
of  attending  to  man.  He  makes  awkward  attempts  to 
crush  them  by  falling  on  his  knees;  and  sometimes 
peaces  his  forehead  against  a  tree  ten  inches  in  diam- 
eter; glancing  on  one  side  of  the  tree  and  then  on  the 
other,  he  pushes  it  down,  before  him,  as.  if  he  thought 
thereby  to  catch  his  enemies.      The  only  danger  the 


56  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

huntsman  has  to  apprehend  is  the  dogs  running  to* 
ward  him,  and  thereby  leading  the  elephant  to  their  mas- 
ter. Mr.  Oswell  has  been  known  to  kill  four  large  old 
male  elephants  a  day.  The  value  of  the  ivory  in  these 
cases  would  be  one  hundred  guineas.  We  had  reason 
to  be  proud  of  his  success,  for  the  inhabitants  conceived 
from  it  a  very  high  idea  of  English  courage;  and  when 
they  wished  to  flatter  me,  would  say,  'If  you  were 
not  a  missionary  you  would  just  be  like  Oswell ;  you 
would  not  hunt  with  dogs  either.'  When,  in  1852,  we 
came  to  the  Cape,  my  black  coat  eleven  years  out  of 
fashion,  and  without  a  penny  of  salary  to  draw,  we 
found  that  Mr.  Oswell  had  most  generously  ordered 
an  outfit  for  the  half-naked  children,  which  cost  about 
£200,  and  presented  it  to  us,  saying  he  thought  Mrs. 
Livingstone  had  a  right  to  the  game  of  her  own  pre- 
serves. 

"  Foiled  in  this  second  attempt  to  reach  Sebituane, 
we  returned  again  to  Kolobeng,  whither  we  were  soon 
followed  by  a  number  of  messengers  from  that  chief 
himself.  When  he  heard  of  our  attempts  to  visit  him, 
he  dispatched  three  detachments  of  his  men  with  thir- 
teen brown  cows  to  Lechulatebe,  thirteen  white  cows 
to  Sekomi,  and  thirteen  black  cows  to  Sechele,  with  a 
request  to  each  to  assist  the  white  men  to  reach  him. 
Their  policy,  however,  was  to  keep  him  out  of  view, 
and  act  as  his  agents  in  purchasing  with  his  ivory 
the  goods  he  wanted.  This  is  thoroughly  African  ; 
and  that  continent  being  without  friths  and  arms  of 
the  sea,  the  tribes  in  the  centre  have  always 
debarred  from  European  intercourse  by  its  universal 
prevalence  among  all  the  people  around  the  coast-." 


JOURNEY  TO   THE  ZAMBESI.  fn 


Setting  out  for  the  third  time  with  his  family  ai 


Mr.  Oswell,  Livingstone  reached  the  last  wells  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Zouga  River,  and  then,  instead  of 
turning  westward  towards  Lake  Ngami,  as  on  the  first 
and  second  journeys,  pushed  on  in  a  northern  course 
towards  the  Makololo  country,  guided  by  a  Bushman 
who  knew  the  way.  They  entered  upon  a  hot,  level 
region,  studded  with  glittering  deposits  of  salt,  where 
all  the  springs  were  more  or  less  brackish.  After  sev- 
eral days  of  weary  travel,  they  reached  a  place  called 
"The  Links"  by  the  natives,  where  they  found  a  num- 
ber of  wells  of  fresh  water.  Here  there  was  a  settle- 
ment of  Bushmen,  of  taller  stature  and  darker  color 
than  those  of  the  Kalihari  Desert. 

One  of  these  Bushmen,  named  Shobo,  consented 
to  be  their  guide  over  the  unknown  waste  between 
those  springs  and  the  land  of  Shebituane,  the  Maka- 
lolo  chief.  Nevertheless,  he  informed  them  that  they 
would  not  reach  water  again  in  less  than  a  month. 
Yet  by  a  species  of  Providence,  in  a  very  short  time 
they  came  upon  a  number  of  pools  of  rain-water.  "  It 
is  impossible,"  says  Livingstone,  "  to  convey  an  idea 
of  the  dreary  scene  on  which  we  entered  after  leaving 
this  spot.  The  only  vegetation  was  a  low  scrub  in 
deep  sand ;  not  a  bird  or  insect  enlivened  the  land- 
scape. It  was,  without  exception,  the  most  uninviting 
prospect  I  ever  beheld ;  and;  to  make  matters  worse, 
our  guide  Shobo  wandered  on  the  second  day.  AVe 
coaxed  him  on  at  night,  but  he  went  to  all  points  of 
the  compass  on  the  trails  of  elephants  which  had  been 
here  in  the  rainy  season,  and  then  would  sit  down  in 
the  path,  and  in  his  broken  Sichuana  say,   'No  water, 


58  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

all  country  only;  Shobo  sleeps;  lie  breaks  down; 
country  only;'  and  then  coolly  curl  himself  up  and 
go  to  sleep.  The  oxen  were  terribly  fatigued  and 
thirsty;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  fourth  day,  Shobo, 
after  professing  ignorance  of  everything,  vanished  alto- 
gether. We  went  on  in  the  direction  in  which  we  last 
saw  him,  and  about  eleven  o'clock  began  to  see  birds; 
then  the  trail  of  a  rhinoceros.  At  this  we  unyoked  the 
oxen,  and  they,  apparently  knowing  the  sign,  rushed 
along  to  find  the  water  in  the  River  Mahabe,  which 
comes  from. the  Tamunakle,  and  lay  to  the  west  of  us. 
The  supply  of  water  in  the  wagons  had  been  wasted 
by  one  of  our  servants,  and  by  the  afternoon  only  a 
small  portion  remained  for  the  children.  This  was  a 
bitterly  anxious  night ;  and  next  morning  the  less 
there  was  of  water,  the  more  thirsty  the  little  rogues 
became.  The  idea  of  their  perishing  before  our  e 
was  terrible.  It  would  almost  have  been  a  relief  to  me 
to  have  been  reproached  with  being  the  entire  cause  of 
the  catastrophe;  but  not  one  syllable  of  upbraiding 
was  uttered  by  their  mother,  though  the  tearful  eye 
told  the  agony  within.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  fifth 
day,  to  our  inexpressible  relief,  some  of  the  men  re- 
turned with  a  supply  of  that  fluid  of  which  we  had 
never  before  felt  the  true  value. 

"The  cattle,  in  rushing  along  to  the  water  in  the 
Mahabe,  probably  crossed  a  small  patch  of  trees  con- 
taining tsetse,  an  insect  which  was  shortly  to  become 
a  perfect  pest  to  us.  Shobo  had  found  his  way  to  the 
j'aveiye,  and  appeared,  when  we  came  up  to  the  river, 
at  the  head  of  a  party  ;  and,  as  he  wished  to  show  his 
importance  before  Ids  friends,  he  walked  up  boldly  and 


JOURNEY  TO  THE  ZAMBESI.  59 

commanded  our  whole  calvalcade  to  stop,  and  to  bring 
forth  fire  and  tobacco,  while  he  coolly  sat  down  and 
smoked  his  pipe.  It  was  such  an  inimitably  natural 
way  of  showing  off,  that  we  all  stopped  to*  admire  the 
acting,  and,  though  he  had  left  us  previously  in  the 
lurch,  we  all  liked  Shobo,  a  fine  specimen  of  that  won- 
derful  people,  the  Bushmen." 

The  next  day  they  came  to  the  village  of  a  new 
tribe,  called  the  Banajoa,  Their  huts  were  built  on 
poles,  and  fires  were  kindled  under  them  during  the 
night,  to  drive  away  the  musquitos  which  abound  in 
the  country.  But  a  more  dangerous  scourge  was  the 
tsetse,  which  now  began  to  attack  their  cattle.  It  is 
thus  described :  "  It  is  not  much  larger  than  the  common 
house-fly,  and  is  nearly  of  the  same  brown  color  as  the 
common  honey-bee ;  the  after  part  of  the  body  has 
three  or  four  yellow  bars  across  it ;  the  wings  project 
beyond  this  part  considerably,  and  it  is  remarkably 
alert,  avoiding  most  dextrously  all  attempts  to  capture 
it  with  the  hand  at  common  temperatures ;  in  the  cool 
of  the  mornings  and  evenings  it  is  less  agile.  Its  pe- 
culiar buzz  when  once  heard  can  never  be  forgotten  bv 
the  traveller  whose  means  of  locomotion  are  domestic 
animals  ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  the  bite  of  this  poi- 
sonous insect  is  certain  death  to  the  ox,  horse,  and  dog. 
In  this  journey,  though  we  were  not  aware  of  any 
great  number  having  at  any  time  lighted  on  our  cattle, 
we  lost  forty-three  fine  oxen  by  its  bite.  We  watched 
the  animals  carefully,  and  believe  that  not  a  score  of 
flies  were  ever  upon  them. 

"  A  most  remarkable  feature  in  the  bite  of  the  tsetse 
Is  its  perfect   harmlessness  in  man  and  wild  animals, 


60  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

and  even  calves,  so  long  as  they  continue  to  suck  tlie 
cows.  We  never  experienced  the  slightest  injury  from 
them  ourselves,  personally,  although  we  lived  two 
months  in  their  hahitat,  which  was  in  this  ca^e 
sharply  defined  as  in  many  others,  for  the  south  bank  of 
the  Ohobe  was  infested  by  them,  and  the  northern  bank, 
where  our  cattle  were  placed,  only  fifty  yards  distant, 
contained  not  a  single  specimen.  This  was  the  more 
remarkable,  as  we  often  saw  natives  carrying  over  raw 
meat  to  the  opposite  bank  with  many  tsetse  settled 
upon  it. 

"The  mule,  ass,  and  goat  enjoy  the  same  immunity 
from  the  tsetse  as  man  and  the  game.  Many  large 
tribes  on  the  Zambesi  can  keep  no  domestic  ani- 
mals except  the  goat,  in  consequence  of  the  scourge 
existing  in  their  country.  Our  children  were  fre- 
quently bitten,  yet  suffered  no  harm ;  and  we  saw 
around  us  numbers  of  zebras,  buffaloes,  pigs,  pallahs, 
and  other  antelopes,  feeding  quietly  in  the  very  habitat 
of  the  tsetse,  yet  as  undisturbed  by  its  bite  as  oxen  are 
when  they  first  receive  the  fatal  poison.  There  is  not 
so  much  difference  in  the  natures  of  the  horse  and  ze- 
bra, the  buffalo  and  ox,  the  sheep  and  antelope.  as 
afford  any  satisfactory  explanation  of  the  phenomenon. 
Is  a  man  not  as  much  a  domestic  animal  as  a  «: 
The  curious  feature  in  the  case,  that  dogs  perish  though 
fed  on  milk,  whereas  the  calves  escape  so  long  as  they 

continue  sucking,  made  us  imagine  that  the  mischief 
might  he  produced  by  some  plant  in  tin1  locality,  and 
not  by  tsetse  J  but  Major  Vnrdonj  of  the  Madras 
Army,  settled  that  point  by  riding  a  horse  up  to  a 
imall  hill  infested  by  the  insect  without  allowing  him 


JOURNEY  TO  THE  ZAMBESI.  61 

* 

time  to  graze,  and  though  he  only  remained  long 
enough  to  take  a  view  of  the  country,  yet  in  ten  days 
afterwards  the  horse  was  dead." 

Crossing  a  marshy  country  to  the  Chobe,  a  large 
branch  of  the  Zambesi  River,  the  travellers  at  last  met 
the  Makololo,  by  whom  they  were  well  received. 
The  chief,  Sebituane,  wTas  about  twenty  miles  further 
down  the  river,  and  Livingstone  and  Oswell  proceeded 
in  canoes  to  his  residence.  He  had  come  one  hun- 
dred miles  southward  from  his  capital,  to  meet  the 
first  white  men  who  had  ever  reached  his  country. 
"  He  was  upon  an  island,"  says  Livingstone,  "  with  all 
his  principal  men  around  him,  and  engaged  in  singing 
when  we  arrived.  It  was  more  like  church  music 
than  the  sing-song  e  e  e,  se  se  se,  of  the  Bechuanas  of 
the  south,  and  they  continued  the  tune  for  some  sec- 
onds after  we  approached.  We  informed  him  of  the 
difficulties  we  had  encountered,  and  how  glad  we  were 
that  they  were  all  at  an  end  by  at  last  reaching  his 
presence.  He  signified  his  own  joy,  and  added, 
w  Your  cattle  are  all  bitten  by  the  tsetse,  and  will  cer- 
tainly die;  but  never  mind,  I  have  oxen,  and  will 
give  you  as  many  as  you  need.'  "We,  in  our  ignor- 
ance, then  thought  that  as  so  few  tsetse  had  bitten 
tli em  no  great  mischief  would  follow.  He  then  pre- 
sented us  with  an  ox  and  a  jar  of  honey  as  food,  and 
handed  us  over  to  the  care  of  Mahale,  who  had  headed 
the  party  to  Kolobeng,  and  would  now  fain  appropri 
ate  to  himself  the  whole  credit  of  our  coming.  Pre- 
pared skins  of  oxen,  as  soft  as  cloth,  were  given  to 
cover  us  through  the  night ;  and,  as  nothing  could  be 
returned  to  this  chief,  Mahale  became  the   owner  of 


62  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

them.  Long  before  it  was  day  Sebituane  came,  ami 
sitting  down  by  the  tire,  which  was  lighted  for  out 
benefit  behind  the  hedge  where  we  lay,  he  narrated 
the  difficulties  he  had  himself  experienced,  when  a 
young  man,  in  crossing  that  same  desert  which  we  had 
mastered  long  afterward.  As  he  has  been  most  re- 
markable in  his  career,  and  was  unquestionably  tin; 
greatest  man  in  all  that  country,  a  short  sketch  of  his 
life  may  prove  interesting  to  the  reader. 

"Sebituane  was  about  forty-five  years  of  age  ;  of  a 
tall  and  wiry  form,  an  olive  or  cofFee-and-milk  color, 
and  slightly  bald ;  in  manner  cool  and  collected,  and 
more  frank  in  his  answers  than  any  other  chief  I  ever 
met.  He  was  the  greatest  warrior  ever  heard  of  be- 
yond the  colony;  for,  unlike  Mosilikatse,  Dingaan, 
and  others,  he  always  led  his  men  into  battle  himself. 
When  he  saw  the  enemy,  he  felt  the  edge  of  his  battle-. 
axe,  and  said,  '  Aha !  it  is  sharp,  and  whoever  turns 
his  back  on  the  enemy  will  feel  its  edge.'  So  fleet  of 
foot  was  he,  that  all  his  people  knew  there  was  no  es- 
cape for  the  coward,  as  any  such  would  be  cut  down 
without  mercy.  In  some  instances  of  skulking  he  al- 
lowed the  individual  to  return  home;  then  calling 
him,  he  wrould  say,  *  Ah!  you  prefer  dying  at  home 
to  dying  in  the  field,  do  you?  You  shall  have  your 
desire.'  This  was  the  signal  for  his  immediate 
execution." 

This  famous  chief  came  from  a  tribe  much  further 
to  the  south,  and  had  conquered  his  kingdom  by  his 
own  courage  and  energy.  Thirty  years  before,  he  had 
fought  the  Griquas  at  Kuruman ;  and  many  years  of 
wandering,  of  fighting,  of  danger  and  poverty  had  in 


JOURNEY  TO  THE  ZAMBESI.  03 

tervened,  before  he  established  his  sovereignty  on  the 
Zambesi.  His  wars  with  the  chief  Mosilikatse  com- 
pletely broke  up  the  hitter's  power  throughout  the 
central  region,  and  *hus  opened  the  way  to  explorers 
He  knew  of  the  commerce  carried  on  with  white  men 
on  the  eastern  and  western  coasts  of  the  continent,  and 
appears  to  have  made  several  attempts  to  establish  in- 
tercourse with  them,  before  sending  the  invitation  to 
Livingstone. 

Unfortunately  the  end   of  his  adventurous  career 
was  near  at  hand.     "  He  was  much  pleased,"  says  Liv- 
ingstone, "  with  the  proof  of  confidence  we  had  shown 
in  bringing  our  children,  and  promised  to  take  us  to 
see  his  country,  so  that  we  might  choose  a  part  in 
which  to  locate  ourselves.     Our  plan  was,  that  I  should 
remain  in  the  pursuit  of  my  objects  as  a  missionary, 
while  Mr.  Oswell  explored  the  Zambesi  to    the  east. 
Poor  Sebituane,  however,  just  after  realizing  what  he 
had  so  long  ardently  desired,  fell  sick  of  inflammation 
of  the  lungs,  which  originated  in  and  extended  from  an 
old  wound  got  at  Melita.     I  saw  his  danger,  but,  being 
a  stranger,  I  feared  to  treat  him  medically,  lest,  in  the 
event  of  his  death,  I  should  be  blamed  by  his  people. 
I  mentioned  this  to  one  of  his  doctors,  who  said,  'Your 
tear  is   prudent  and  wrise;  this  people  would  blame 
you.''     He  had  been  cured  of  this  complaint,  during 
the  year  before,  by  the  Barotse  making  a  large  number 
of  free  incisions  in  the  chest.     The  Makololo  doctors, 
on  the  other  hand,  now  scarcely  cut  the  skin.     On  the 
Sunday  afternoon  in  which  he  died,  when   our  usual 
religious  service  was  over,  I  visited  him  with  my  little 
boy  Robert.     '  Come  near,'  said  Sebituane,  i  and  see  it 


GJ.  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

I  am  any  longer  a  man.  I  am  done.'  He  was  thus 
sensible  of  the  dangerous  nature  of  his  disease,  so  I  ven- 
tured to  assent,  and  added  a  single  sentence  regarding 
hope  after  death.  '  Why  do  you  speak  of  death  ? '  said 
one  of  a  relay  of  fresh  doctors;  *  Sebituane  will  never 
die.'  If  I  had  persisted,  the  impression  would  have 
been  produced  that  by  speaking  about  it  I  wished  him 
to  die.  After  sitting  with  him  some  time,  and  com- 
mending him  to  the  mercy  of  God,  I  rose  to  depart, 
when  the  dying  chieftain,  raising  himself  up  a  little 
from  his  prone  position,  called  a  servant,  and  said, 
*  Take  Robert  to  Manku  (one  of  his  wives),  and  tell 
her  to  give  him  some  milk.'  These  were  the  last 
words  of  Sebituane. 

"  "We  were  not  informed  of  his  death  until  the  next 
day.  The  burial  of  a  Bechuana  chief  takes  place  in  his 
cattle-pen,  and  all  the  cattle  are  driven  for  an  hour  or 
two  around  and  over  the  grave,  so  that  it  may  be  quite 
obliterated.  We  went  and  spoke  to  the  people,  advis- 
ing them  to  keep  together  and  support  the  heir. 
They  took  this  kindly  ;  *md  in  turn  told  us  not  to  be 
alarmed,  for  they  would  not  think  of  ascribing  the  death 
of  their  chief  to  us;  that  Sebituane  had  just  gone  the 
way  of  his  fathers  ;  and  though  the  father  had  gone,  he 
had  left  children,  and  they  hoped  that  we  would  be  as 
friendly  to  his  children  as  we  intended  to  have  beeH  to 
himself. 

l*  Ee  was  decidedly  the  best  specimen  of  a  native 
chief  I  ever  met.  I  never  felt  so  much  grieved  by  the 
loss  of  a  black  man  before  ;  and  it  was  impossible  not 
to  follow  him  in  thought  into  the  world  of  which  ho 
bad  just  heard  before  he    was   called    away,    and    to 


JOURNEY  TO  THE  ZAMBESI.  65 

realize  somewhat  of  the  feelings  of  those  who  pray 
for  the  dead.  The  deep,  dark  question  of  what  is  to 
become  of  such  as  he,  must,  however,  be  left  where 
we  find  it,  believing  that,  assuredly,  the  '  Judge  of  all 
the  earth  will  do  right.' 

"  At  Sebituane's  death  the  chieftainship  devolved, 
as  her  father  intended,  on  a  daughter  named  Ma-moch- 
isane.  He  had  promised  to  show  us  his  country  and 
to  select  a  suitable  locality  for  our  residence.  We  had 
now  to  look  to  the  daughter,  who  was  living  twelve 
days  to  the  north,  at  Naliele.  We  were  obliged, 
therefore,  to  remain  until  a  message  came  from  her ; 
and  when  it  did,  she  gave  us  perfect  liberty  to  visit 
any  part  of  the  country  we  chose.  Mr.  Oswell  and  I 
then  proceeded  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  to  the 
north-east,  to  Sesheke ;  and  in  the  end  of  June,  1851, 
we  were  rewarded  by  the  discovery  of  the  Zambesi,  in 
the  centre  of  the  continent.  This  was  a  most  impor- 
tant point,  for  that  river  was  not  previously  known  to 
exist  there  at  all.  The  Portuguese  maps  all  represent  it 
as  rising  far  to  the  east  of  where  we  now  were  ;  and  if 
every  anything  like  a  chain  of  trading  stations  had 
existed  across  the  country  between  the  latitudes  12° 
and  18°  south,  this  magnificent  portion  of  the  river 
must  have  been  known  before.  We  saw  it  at  the  end  of 
the  dry  season,  at  the  time  when  the  river  is  about  at 
its  lowest,  and  yet  there  was  a  breadth  of  from  three  hun- 
dred to  six  hundred  yards  of  deep  flowing  water.  Mr. 
Oswell  said  he  had  never  seen  such  a  fine  river,  even 
in  India.  At  the  period  of  its  annual  inundation  it  rises 
fully  twenty  feet  in  perpendicular  height,  and  floods 
fifteen  or  twenty  miles  of  lands  adjacent  to  its  banks. 


0 

66  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

"  The  country  over  which  we  had  travelled  fron, 
the  Chobe  was  perfectly  flat,  except  where  there  werrj 
large  ant-hills,  or  the  remains  of  former  ones,  which 
had  left  mounds  a  few  feet  high.  These  are  generallj 
covered  with  wild  date-trees  and  palmyras,  and  in  some 
parts  there  are  forests  of  mimosae  and  mopane.  Occa 
sionally  the  country  between  the  Chobe  and  Zambesi 
is  flooded,  and  there  are  large  patches  of  swamps  lying 
near  the  Chobe,  or  on  its  banks.  The  Makololo  were 
living  among  these  swamps  for  the  sake  of  the  pro- 
tection the  deep  reedy  rivers  afforded  them  against 
their  enemies. 

"  As  we  were  the  very  first  white  men  the  inhabi- 
tants had  ever  seen,  we  were  visited  by  prodigious 
numbers.  Among  the  first  who  came  to  see  us  was  a 
gentleman  who  appeared  in  a  gaudy  dressing-gown  of 
printed  calico.  Many  of  the  Makololo,  besides,  had 
garments  of  blue,  green,  and  red  baize,  and  also  of 
printed  cottons  ;  on  inquiry,  we  learned  that  these  had 
been  purchased,  in  exchange  for  boys,  from  a  tribe 
called  Mambari,  which  is  situated  near  Bihe." 

Livingstone  gives  no  account  of  the  return  journey, 
and  we  only  know  that  it  was  performed  without  ac- 
cident, though  probably  not  without  much  privation. 
As  there  was  then  no  hope  of  the  Boers  allowing  the 
peaceable  instruction  of  the  natives  at  Kolobeng,  he 
resolved  to  send  his  family  to  England,  and  to  return 
alone  to  the  Makololo  country,  with  a  view  to  explore  it 
in  search  of  a  healthy  district  that  might  prove  a  fu- 
ture centre  of  civilization,  and  open  up  the  interior  by 
a  path  to  either  the  east  or  west  coast.  This  plan  led 
him  to  the  Cape  in  April,  1852,  being  the  first  time  dur 


JOURNEY  TO   THE  ZAMBESI,  67 

ing  eleven  years  that  lie  had  visited  civilization.  "  Our 
route  to  Capetown,"  he  says,  "  led  us  to  pass  through 
the  centre  of  the  colony  during  the  twentieth  month 
of  a  Kaffer  war ;  and  if  those  who  periodically  pay 
enormous  sums  for  these  inglorious  affairs  wish  to  know 
how  our  little  unprotected  party  could  quietly  travel 
through  the  heart  of  the  colony  to  the  capital  with  as 
little  sense  or  sign  of  danger  as  if  we  had  been  in  Eng- 
land, they  must  engage  a  '  Times  Special  Correspond- 
ent' for  the  next  outbreak  to  expiain  where  the 
money  goes,  and  wrho  have  been  benefited  by  the  blood 
and  treasure  expended. 

"  Having  placed  my  family  on  board  a  homeward- 
bound  ship,  and  promised  to  rejoin  them  in  two  years, 
we  parted,  for,  as  it  subsequently  proved,  nearly  five 
years.  The  Directors  of  the  London  Missionary  So- 
ciety signified  their  cordial  approval  of  my  project  4>» 
leaving  the  matter  entirely  to  my  own  discretion ;  auc 
I  have  much  pleasure  in  acknowledging  my  obliga- 
tions to  the  gentlemen  composing  that  body  for  always 
acting  in  an  enlightened  spirit,  and  with  ia  much  liber- 
ality as  their  constitution  would  allow." 


CHAPTER  VL 

Anderson's   jouuney    to    the    ovampo     land    and 
lake  ngami. 

BEFORE  following  Livingstone  on  his  great  jour 
ney  of  four  years  into  and  across  South  Africa 
from  sea  to  sea,  let  us  turn  to  other  explorations  of  the 
regions  below  the  parallel  of  Lake  Ngami,  which  have 
almost  completed  our  knowledge  of  the  geography  of 
that  part  of  the  continent.  Some  important  informa- 
tion has  also  been  contributed  by  Gordon  Gumming, 
Baldwin,  and  other  professional  sportsmen  ;  but  their 
object  was  game  and  not  discovery,  and  the  explora- 
tions they  made  were  only  incidental  and  fragmentary. 
Livingstone's  visit  to  Lake  Ngami,  and  his  report 
of  the  immense  herds  of  elephants  on  the  Zouga  River, 
created  much  excitement  throughout  the  Cape  Colony. 
Among  others  who  determined  to  follow  in  his  tracks 
was  the  Swedish  naturalist  Anderson,  who  had  como 
to  South  Africa  to  prosecute  his  scientific  studies.  In 
company  with  an  Englishman,  named  Galton,  he  fitted 
out  a  small  expedition,  intending  to  take  the  direct 
route  to  the  lake,  through  the  interior ;  but  the  break- 
ing out  of  hostilities  between  the  Boers  and  the 
native  tribes  compelled  them  to  give  up  this  plan. 
They  returned  to  the  coast  and  made  their  way  to 
Whale  Bay,  a  port  in  lat.  22°  S.,  whence  the  actual 
distance  to  the  lake  was  not  greater  than  from  Kuril- 


THE  OVAMPO  LAND  AND  LAKE  NGAML        69 

man,  but  the  intervening  territory  was  almost  wholly 
unknown. 

The  Namaqua  Hottentots  inhabit  the  territory 
bordering  the  ocean,  and  several  German  missionary 
stations — those  of  Rehoboth  and  New-Barmen  being 
the  chief — have  been  established  among  them,  but 
without  much  effect  upon  the  habits  of  the  people. 
So  long  as  the  latter  receive  food  and  clothing  from 
the  missionaries,  they  gather  about  them  and  listen  to 
their  instruction  ;  but  when  the  gifts  cease,  they  turn 
their  backs  in  indifference,  or  insult  their  benefactors. 
The  success  of  the  missions  has  further  been  somewhat 
jeopardized  by  the  forays  which  the  Namaquas  have 
made,  in  late  years,  into  the  land  of  the  Damaras, 
who  inhabited  the  region  to  the  north.  These  Dam- 
aras are  a  comparatively  tine-looking  race  of  men : 
they  are  nomads,  and  wander  about  with  enormous 
herds  of  cattle,  leaving  the  country  bare  behind  them 
wherever  they  go.  They  appear  to  have  come  from 
the  eastward,  driving  the  aboriginal  tribes,  who  wero 
probably  Hottentots,  into  the  mountains,  where  a 
small  remnant  of  them  still  exists. 

.  The  Damaras  are  tall,  strong  and  symmetrically 
formed.  They  are  well  armed  with  the  assagay  (a  sort 
of  lance),  bow  and  arrow,  and  club ;  but  their  inclina- 
tions are  peaceful,  and  their  faces  have  a  gentle, expres- 
sion. They  resemble  the  other  native  tribes  in  their 
scanty  clothing,  in  the  habit  of  smearing  their  bodies 
with  fat,  and  in  the  fondness  of  the  women  for  a  bur- 
den of  rings,  plates  and  other  metallic  ornaments.  The 
men  wind  their  strips  of  leather,  sometimes  several  hun- 
dred feet  in  length,  around  their  loins,  and  carry  their 


70  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

clubs  and  pipes  therein.  They  are  so  skilful  in  throw- 
ing the  kerri,  a  stick  with  a  knob  on  one  end,  that  they 
will  even  brin^  down  birds  on  the  wins:. 

The  missionaries,  thus  far,  have  accomplished  very 
little  towards  civilizing  the  Dainaras.  When  they  first 
settled  themselves  in  the  country,  the  latter  quietly 
withdrew  with  their  herds,  and  left  the  strangers  to  pro- 
cure their  food  as  they  best  could.  The  idea  of  a  pure 
human  interest  being  incomprehensible  to  them,  they 
suspected  some  hostile  intention,  and  at  first  debated 
whether  they  should  not  exterminate  them.  In  the 
course  of  time  they  became  more  friendly,  but  to  this 
day  a  Darnara  in  good  circumstances  keeps  aloof  from 
the  teaching  of  the  missionaries ;  while  the  poorer  peo- 
ple, who  support  themselves  chiefly  by  cultivating  to- 
bacco, are  learning  to  understand  the  advantage  of  set- 
tling in  the  neighborhood  of  the  mission  stations. 

When  Anderson  and  Gal  ton  landed  at  Whale  Bay, 
they  had  no  definite  plan  of  travel.  After  reaching 
Barmen,  however,  they  heard  of  a  great  lake  of  fresh 
water,  called  "  Omanbonde,"  lying  some  distance  to  the 
northward.  The  region  was  entirely  unknown,  and  the 
Damaras  who  inhabited  it  were  represented  to  them  by 
the  natives  as  fierce,  unfriendly  and  treacherous.  Nev- 
ertheless they  undertook  the  journey,  and  after  several 
weeks  of  slow  progress,  encountering  the  usual  dangers, 
difficulties  and  delays,  reached  the  famed  lake,  which 
the  natives  had  described  to  them  as  being  "as  large  as 
the  sky."  But  their  disappointment  was  great,  at  find- 
ing only  a  great  reedy  marsh,  without  any  water! 
There  were  indications,  it  is  true,  that  a  lake  of  consid- 
erable extent  had  formerly  existed  there ;  but  in  drying 


i'UE  OVAMPO  LAND  AMD  LAKE  NGAMI.        71 

it  had  banished  the  herds  of  elephants  and  other  wild 
beasts  which  they  had  hoped  to  find. 

Having  penetrated  so  far,  however,  the  travellers 
determined  to  go  on.  They  had  heard  of  a  people  still 
further  to  the  north,  who  had  permanent  habitations, 
who  cultivated  the  soil,  and  were  industrious,  peaceful 
and  hospitable.  They  were  called  the  Ovampo  (or 
Ovambo),  which  denoted  agriculturists,  and  carried  en 
a  trade  with  the  Damaras,  giving  them  in  exchange 
for  cattle  implements  of  iron.  They  were  said  to  be 
very  numerous,  and  to  be  governed  by  a  king  who 
was  of  gigantic  stature.  In  regard  to  the  distance  of 
the  country,  and  the  character  of  the  region  to  be  trav 
ersed  in  order  to  reach  it,  the  Damaras  could  only  give 
very  uncertain  and  fabulous  accounts.  Although  it 
seemed  probable  that  the  journey  would  occupy  sev 
eral  months,  Anderson  decided  to  make  the  venture, 
and  left  the  unfortunate  Lake  Omanbonde  behind  him. 
There  was  no  longer  any  desert,  at  least;  the  road 
must  be  forced  through  high  grass,  thickets,  and  occa- 
sional forests.  Water  wras  found  in  abundance,  and 
there  was  so  much  game  that  the  party  never  lacked 
food.  In  a  few  days  after  leaving  the  lake,  they  were 
surprised  to  find  groves  of  fan-palm  covering  the 
landscapes. 

They  had  barely  reached  the  last  settlement  of  the 
Damaras  when  the  axle  of  their  large  wagon  broke, 
md  there  were  no  means  of  mending  it.  Therefore 
;hey  determined  to  leave  the  vehicles,  and  push  on  by 
means  of  pack  and  saddle  oxen.  But  the  native  chief 
not  only  refused  to  furnish  them  with  a  guide,  he 
would  give  them  n)  information  whatever,  and  all  thej 


72  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

could  extort  from  him  was  the  promise  that  they 
might  join  a  caravan  which  was  expected  from  the 
Ovarnpo  land.  Fortunately,  this  caravan  soon  arrived : 
it  consisted  of  twenty-three  tall,  strong,  very  dark-col- 
ored men,  of  serious  demeanor,  and  of  a  type  very  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  Damaras.  They  brought  lance- 
heads,  knives,  rings,  and  beads  of  copper  and  iron — 
all  their  own  workmanship — which  they  sold  dearly 
enough ;  as,  for  instance,  a  lance-head  for  an  ox. 

The  Ovampos  agreed  that  the  strangers  might 
accompany  them  back  to  their  country,  and  when  the 
caravan  was  ready  to  start  it  numbered  170  persons, 
for  many  Damaras — among  them  seventy  or  eighty 
girls — decided  to  join  it.  The  Oampos  had  collected 
a  h'ne  herd  of  cattle  by  their  trading,  and  they  declared 
that  fourteen  long  days'  journeys  would  bring  them  to 
their  own  country.  The  pleasant  scenery  soon  disap- 
peared ;  thorny  thickets  and  dreary  plains  followed ; 
the  watering-places  were  few  and  far  apart,  and  the 
travellers  now  recognized  how  difficult  it  would  have 
been  to  cross  such  a  region  without  a  skilful  guide. 
Here,  as  elsewhere,  they  encountered  parties  of  the 
wild  Bushmen,  and  they  noticed  with  pleasure  that 
these  outcasts,  so  despised  by  all  other  tribes,  were 
kindly  treated  by  the  Ovampos. 

After  a  journey  of  eight  days,  the  caravan  reschod 
the  first  pasture-lands  of  the  tribe,  and  there  rested  for 
a  few  days.  The  welcome  of  the  country,  which  they 
received,  consisted  in  having  their  faces  thickly  smeared 
with  butter.  Messengers  were  sent  in  advance  to  an 
nounce  the  coming  of  the  strangers  to  the  king,  Nah- 
garo,  and  then  the  travel  was  resumed, — at  first  across 


THE  OVAMPO  LAND  AND  LAKE  NGAMI.        73 

great  salt-pans,  surrounded  with  a  girdle  of  forests,  and 
afterwards  over  boundless,  grassy  savannas.  So  m  uch 
the  more  agreeable  was  the  surprise  of  Anderson  and 
Galton,  when  they  saw  before  them  the  fertile,  well 
cultivated  fields  of  Ondonga,  the  central  part  of  the 
Ovampo  land.  Instead  of  the  never-ending  thickets 
and  sandy  tracts,  they  beheld  immense  fields  of  grain, 
dotted  over  with  peaceful  dwellings,  isolated  forest  o? 
fruit  trees,  and  groves  of  palm.  It  seemed  to  them 
like  a  veritable  paradise,  and  these  attractive  features 
multiplied  as  they  advanced. 

There  were  no  villages ;  each  family  has  its  own 
patriarchal  home,  in  the  midst  of  the  fields  it  cultivates. 
The  houses  are  surrounded  with  strong  palisades,  for 
even  these  peaceable  farmers  have  hostile  neighbors, 
and  are  sometimes  compelled  to  defend  their  posses- 
sions. Their  grain  is  lentils  and  millet,  which  grow  to 
the  height  of  eight  or  nine  feet.  At  harvest  they  sim- 
ply cut  off  the  ripe  heads,  and  then  turn  their  cattle 
into  the  fields  to  devour  the  straw.  They  have  exten- 
sive pasture-grounds  at  some  distance  from  the  culti- 
vated region,  and  are  said  to  raise  a  breed  of  pigs  of 
an  enormous  size.  The  travellers  were  unable  to  as- 
certain the  exact  extent  of  the  country,  or  the  number 
of  the  inhabitants. 

On  the  second  day  they  reached  the  residence  of 
the  terrible  Nangaro,  but  without  being  admitted :  a 
group  of  trees,  near  at  hand,  was  pointed  out  to  them 
as  the  place  where  they  should  wait.  This  is  the  cus- 
tom of  African  as  of  European  courts,  and  in  their 
case  it  lasted  three  days.  Finally,  they  were  taken  be- 
fore his  Majesty,  whom  they  found  to  be  a  giant,  truly, 


74  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

but  only  in  a  horizontal  direction.  He  was  an  exceed- 
ingly thick,  ugly  man,  yet  every  inch  a  king  in  the 
eyes  of  his  subjects,  with  whom  corpulency  was  a 
ro}yal  attribute,  and  all  the  more  to  be  admired,  since 
it  would  have  been  unpardonable  in  themselves.  The 
only  answer  which  the  stout  king  made  to  the  brilliant 
address  of  the  travellers  was,  that  he  now  and  theu 
gave  a  grunt  of  assent  or  dissent,  as  the  case  might  be. 
Neither  the  king  nor  his  people  had  a  correct 
knowledge  of  fire-arms.  They  imagined  that  if  one 
should  blow  into  the  barrel,  the  weapon  could  do  no 
harm.  The  effect  of  a  rifle,  loaded  with  conical  ball, 
so  startled  them  that  many  fell  flat  upon  their  faces  at 
each  shot.  The  king  presently  demanded  that  they 
should  shoot  for  him  one  of  the  elephants  which  occa- 
sionally devastated  his  fields.  Anderson  refused,  from 
the  suspicion  that  the  king  would  not  only  keep  the 
ivory  for  himself,  but  possibly  retain  them  in  the  coun- 
try as  long  as  there  were  any  elephants  to  shoot.  Nev- 
ertheless, they  were  very  kindly  and  hospitably  treated. 
The  king  furnished  them  with  food,  and  a  kind  of  beer, 
and  every  evening  there  was  a  native  ball,  where  the 
young  people  danced  to  the  sound  of  tom-toms  and  a 
sort  of  guitar.  The  girls,  when  young,  have  coarse  but 
not  disagreeable  features,  but  afterwards  become  heavy 
and  muscular,  partly  from  carrying  so  many  heavy  metal 
nngs  on  their  arms  and  legs,  and  partly,  in  consequence 
of  their  unremitting  labor.  Both  sexes  work  in  the 
fields  from  sunrise  until  sunset.  The  women  increase 
the  circumference  of  their  woolly  locks  by  stiffening 
them  with  a  mixture  of  fat  and  red  ochre,  with  which 
they  also  plaster  their  bodies. 


THE  OVA  MP  0  LAND  AND  LAKE  NGAML.        75 

The  principal  f  x>d  of  the  Ovampo  is  a  kind  of 
coarse  meal  porridge,  which  is  always  served  hot,  with 
butter  or  sour  milk.  Although  they  are  also  very 
fond  of  a  flesh  diet,  and  their  herds  are  large,  yet  they 
slaughter  cattle  but  sparingly,  and  appear  to  keep  their 
herds  rather  for  pleasure  than  use  or  profit.  Inside  of 
their  stockades  they  have  a  number  of  detached  build- 
ings,— dwellings  for  owners  and  servants,  stables,  gran- 
aries, and  pens  for  pigs  and  fowls.  The  houses  are 
tent-shaped,  circular,  and  not  more  than  six  feet  in 
height ;  the  granaries  are  huge  baskets  of  woven  palm- 
leaves,  each  sheltered  by  a  conical  roof. 

A  good  characteristic  of  the  Ovampo,  which  dis- 
tinguishes them  above  all  other  African  tribes,  is,  that 
they  not  only  do  not  steal,  but  they  consider  theft  a 
crime  worthy  of  being  punished  by  death.  While  the 
travellers  with  all  their  watchfulness  could  not  prevent 
the  Damaras  from  plundering  them,  here  they  could 
leave  their  possessions  unguarded,  knowing  that  not 
the  slightest  article  would  be  taken.  The  king  has  the 
sole  power  of  punishment,  and  order  is  preserved 
throughout  the  land  by  persons  whom  he  appoints,  and 
who  report  to  him  all  crimes  and  disputes.  Moreover, 
the  Ovampo  take  excellent  care  of  all  sick,  crippled  or 
superannuated  persons,  instead  of  driving  them  into 
the  jungle  to  perish,  like  the  Damaras. 

They  are  passionately  attached  to  their  country,  and 
are  very  proud  of  its  advantages.  It  is  an  offence  to 
them  when  a  stranger  inquires  the  number  of  their 
chiefs,  and  they  answer :  u  We  acknowledge  but  one 
king  among  the  Damaras  each  one  thinks  he  is  a 
chief,  as  soon  as  he  owns  a  few  cows."     Fugitives  from 


76  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

other  tribes  are  accepted,  and  allowed  to  marry  among 
them,  but  afterwards  they  are  compelled  to  remain  in 
the  land.  Polygamy  prevails  among  them,  as  else- 
where in  South  Africa :  each  man  is  allowed  to  take 
as  many  wives  as  he  is  able  to  buy.  One  of  small 
means  can  get  a  wife  for  two  oxen  and  a  cow,  while 
those  who  are  wealthier  must  pay  a  higher  price.  The 
king,  alone,  is  not  obliged  to  buy  his  wives,  the  honor 
of  being  connected  with  him  being  considered  a  full 
equivalent.  The  stout  Nangaro  had  already  collected 
106  spouses  from  the  various  quarters  of  his  realm. 

After  the  travellers  had  spent  several  weeks  in  the 
Ovampo  land,  they  prepared  to  continue  their  journey. 
They  were  told  that  only  four  days  to  the  north  there 
was  a  large  beautiful  river,  with  inhabited  shores. 
[This  was  certainly  the  Kunene,  a  river  which  has 
since  been  partly  explored.  It  flows  into  the  sea 
near  Great  Fish  Bay,  on  the  southern  border  of  Ben- 
guela.]  But  the  king  positively  refused  to  permit  them 
to  visit  it,  saying  that  they  had  refused  to  shoot  an 
elephant  for  him,  and  therefore  he  would  not  favor 
their  plans.  They  then  decided  to  return  southward, 
and  with  all  the  more  speed,  since  they  were  uncertain 
how  the  wagons  and  cattle  they  had  left  behind  had 
fared  among  the  Damaras.  The  journey  to  the  mis- 
sion-station at  Barmen  occupied  six  weeks,  and  was 
accompanied  with  many  privations,  since  it  was  winter, 
the  nights  were  cold,  water  and  pasture  dried  up,  and 
game  very  scarce. 

Anderson  now  returned  to  his  original  design  of 
reaching  Lake  Ngaini.  Still  accompanied  by  Gal  ton, 
lie  set  out,  and  after  encountering  many  difficulties  and 


THE  OVA  MFC  LAND  AND  LAxxi^  AuWitf/.         77 

embarrassments,  at  the  end  of  five  months  reached  a 
point  called  Tunobis,  about  two  hundred  miles  from  the 
lake.  This  is  a  watering-place  surrounded  with  forests, 
where  a  few  Bushmen  hide,  and  where  great  quan- 
tities of  elephants  and  other  beasts  collect.  It  was  a 
pleasant  spot  in  the  wilderness ;  but  the  party  had  suf- 
fered intensely  from  heat  and  thirst,  and  the  fatigues 
of  the  journey ;  the  oxen  were  worn  to  skeletons,  and 
the  Bushmen  assured  Anderson  that  a  thorny  desert 
lay  before  him  where  no  water  could  be  found  for  sev- 
eral days.  So  much  time  had  been  lost  in  forcing 
their  way  to  this  point,  that  the  prospect  ahead  decided 
them  to  turn  about  and  retrace  their  weary  steps. 

Mr.  Galton  was  by  this  time  quite  satisfied  with 
African  exploration,  and,  on  reaching  Whale  Bay, 
took  passage  for  England.  Anderson  remained  to 
make  another  attempt,  after  the  rainy  season  was  over ; 
and,  in  order  to  supply  himself  with  materials  for  bar- 
ter with  the  natives,  bought  a  herd  of  cattle  and  drove 
them  down  the  coast  to  Capetown.  The  speculation 
was  tolerably  successful:  he  procured  the  necessary 
supplies,  sailed  to  Whale  Bay,  organized  his  caravan, 
and  struck  into  the  desert. 

By  the  time  he  reached  Tunobis,  his  turning-point 
the  former  year,  his  party  was  in  a  very  dilapidated 
condition.  The  men  had  suffered  greatly  from  hun- 
ger, on  account  of  the  unexpected  scarcity  of  game, 
and  it  now  seemed  as  hazardous  to  return  as  to  go  on- 
wards. The  natives  declared  that  the  direct  way  to 
the  lake  was  through  a  desolate,  waterless  wilderness, 
and  quite  impassable ;  but  that  if  he  would  travel  a 
few  days  to   the  eastward,  following  a  dry  river-bed 


78  TRAVELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

called  Otjambinde,  and  then  turn  to  the  left,  he  might 
succeed. 

It  was  only  by  making  the  greatest  exertions  that 
Anderson  could  induce  both  men  and  beasts  to  go 
farther.  The  latter  were  as  obstinate  as  the  former  ; 
he  was  obliged  to  take  both  in  hand,  drill  them  anew 
and  compel  them  to  his  authority.  Setting  out  about 
the  middle  of  June,  they  followed  the  empty  river-bed, 
plodding  over  wastes  of  glaring  white  sand.  Here 
and  there,  however,  they  found  grass  and  luxuriant 
vegetation,  and  little  slimy  pools  of  rain-water,  some- 
times swarming  with  reptiles,  or  turned  into  liquid 
mud  by  the  feet  of  elephants.  They  found,  also,  a 
number  of  ancient  and  skilfully-constructed  wells, 
some  of  which  were  damp  at  the  bottom,  and,  by 
thrusting  a  reed  into  the  soil,  in  the  manner  of  bush- 
men,  they  could  suck  up  moisture  enough  to  allay 
their  thirst.  These  wells  indicated  that  the  now  des- 
olate region  had  been  formerly  inhabited  by  a  race 
civilized  enough  to  secure  themselves  a  constant  sup- 
ply of  water. 

After  several  days  of  this  travel,  it  was  time  to 
leave  the  old  river-bed  and  strike  out  northward  on 
the  dry  and  stony  plains.  Anderson  had  already  sent 
out  messengers  in  advance,  to  announce  his  coming  to 
the  chief,  Lechulatebe,  whom  Livingstone  had  found 
on  the  borders  of  Lake  Ngami.  A  few  days  after- 
wards, in  the  desert,  a  troop  of  Bechuanas  suddenly 
appeared ;  it  was  the  escort  which  the  chief  had  sent 
to  meet  them.  The  stately  appearance  of  the  men, 
with  their  shields  and  assagays,  made  a  favorable  im- 
pression upon  Anderson,  who  found  that  they  resem- 


THE  OVAMPO  LAND  AND  LAKE  NGAML.        79 

bled  the  Damaras.  The  two  tribes,  in  fact,  were  not 
strangers;  for  the  Damaras  had  formerly  penetrated 
as  fai  as  the  lake,  and  had  often  come  into  collision 
with  the  Bechuanas.  With  these  new  guides,  the 
caravan  toiled  forwards,  making  directly  for  the  lake, 
through  deep  sands;  and  thickets  of  the  thorny  acacia, 
with  here  and  there  a  giant  tree.  In  spite  of  the 
wild  and  wooded  character  of  the  region,  there  were 
rich  pastures,  and  old  wells  gave  evidence  that  it  had 
once  had  permanent  inhabitants.  Yet  a  few  days 
more,  and  the  cry  "  Egami ! "  was  heard  at  the  head 
of  the  caravan.  Anderson  had  at  last  reached  the 
goal  of  so  much  toil  and  privation :  a  beautiful,  ap- 
parently boundless,  expanse  of  water  spread  out  before 
him.  Although  sick,  and  almost  a  cripple  from  his 
encounters  with  rhinoceros  and  elephant,  he  forgot  all 
his  sufferings  at  this  view.  But  as  he  drew  near,  and 
their  route  skirted  the  shores,  the  reality  proved  to  be 
less  pleasant.  The  water  was  bitter  and  disagreeable, 
and  could  only  be  reached  at  a  few  points,  the  mud 
and  reeds  elsewhere  barring  all  approach  to  it. 

The  chief,  whose  residence  was  at  that  time  on  the 
banks  of  the  Zuoga,  refused,  at  h'rst,  to  allow  Anderson 
to  pass  through  his  land.  After  a  few  days,  however, 
he  suddenly  furnished  canoes  and  boatmen  for  a  voy- 
age on  the  lake.  He  was  so  unexpectedly  willing  that 
Anderson  immediately  suspected  some  covert  design, 
and  the  result  proved  that  he  was  right.  The  boatmen 
were  quite  skilful  in  the  use  of  poles  and  oars,  but  did 
not  venture  far  from  the  shore,  and  it  was  two  days 
before  they  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Tioge  Eiver,  at 
the  northern  extremity  of  the  lake. 


80  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

The  animal  life  around  Lake  Ngami  is  wonderfully 
rich  and  varied.  The  elephant,  rhinoceros,  hippopota- 
mus, buffalo  and  giraffe  have  their  settlements,  with 
many  kinds  of  antelopes,  of  which  Anderson  shot  so 
many  that  his  native  envoy  was  soon  increased  by  vol- 
unteers to  the  number  of  sixty  or  seventy.  The  water 
swarmed  with  crocodiles,  some  of  which  were  of  enor- 
mous size.  The  first  part  of  the  voyage  up  the  Tioge 
was  very  monotonous.  The  river  had  overflowed  its 
banks  in  many  places,  and  nothing  was  to  be  seen  but 
wide  marshes,  out  of  which  rose  groups  of  palm-trees. 
On  the  fourth  day,  the  landscape  changed  ;  the  river- 
banks  were  higher,  and  covered  with  the  richest 
growth  of  trees — palms,  mimosas,  sycamores,  and  many 
entirely  new  varieties,  some  of  which  bore  delicious 
fruits.  The  scenery  was  so  charming  that  Anderson 
would  have  willingly  lingered  there  for  days,  but  he 
well  knew  the  danger  of  breathing  that  fever-laden 
atmosphere,  and  hastened  onward. 

After  a  voyage  of  twelve  days  he  reached  a  large 
village,  the  residence  of  the  principal  chief  of  the  Bay- 
eiye  tribe,  which  is  subject  to  the  chief  Lechulatebe,  on 
Lnke  Ngami.  It  was  a  most  picturesque  spot :  on  an 
island  in  the  river,  more  than  a  hundred  houses  were 
grouped  in  the  shade  of  large  fan-palms,  while  on  either 
side  the  water  spread  out  like  a  lake.  Here,  however, 
the  natives  who  accompanied  him  declared  that  their 
chief  had  given  orders  that  he  should  have  no  further 
boats  or  guides.  It  was  not  until  he  declared  that  he 
was  ready  to  return,  that  they  assisted  him  in  any  fray. 
His  object  had  been  to  follow  the  river  to  a  plac( 
called  Libebe,  the  capital  of  an  agricultural  tribe  called 


THE  OVAMPO  LAND  AND  LAKE  NGAML.        81 

Bavicko,  of  which  he  had  heard  many  interesting 
reports. 

In  his  annoyance  at  the  disappointment,  Anderson 
supposed  that  the  raft  which  was  given  to  him  for  his 
return  down  the  Tioge,  instead  of  the  boats,  was  in- 
tended as  an  insult.  But  he  soon  found  that  it  was  an 
agreeable  mode  of  transportation.  The  rafts  are  made 
of  palm-leaves,  or  reeds,  laid  crosswise,  and  not  even 
bound  together ;  the  traveller's  weight  prevents  them 
from  separating.  The  descent  of  the  river  occupied 
nine  days,  and  after  an  absence  of  four  weeks  Anderson 
returned  to  his  encampment  beside  the  lake,  where  he 
found  everything  in  good  order,  except  that  his  people 
complained  "bitterly  of  the  thievishnessof  the  Bechuanas 
and  the  meddlesomeness  of  the  chief. 

In  order  to  convey  to  Capetown  his  collection  of 
objects  of  natural  history,  and  the  ivory  which  he  had 
procured  by  barter  and  the  chase,  it  was  necessary  to 
have  a  wagon.  Anderson  thereupon  travelled  across 
the  wilderness  to  the  Namaqua  land,  and  returned  to 
the  lake,  in  the  space  of  four  months.  He  travelled  on 
fuot,  on  horse-back  or  ox-back,  sometimes  entirely  alone, 
sometimes  with  a  single  companion.  Hunger  and  thirst 
were  more  dangerous  enemies  to  him  than  the  lion  or 
the  hyena.  On  one  occasion  he  was  without  food  for 
two  days,  and  could  only  drink  once  in  twenty-four 
hours.  His  indomitable  energy  and  great  powers  of 
endurance  enabled  him  to  overcome  all  impediments, 
and  successfully  bring  back  his  spoils. 


CHAPTER  YII 

Anderson's  journey  to  the  okavango  river. 

IN  1856,  three  or  four  years  after  Anderson's  at- 
tempt to  reach  the  town  called  Libebe,  on  the 
Tioge  River,  the  journey  was  successfully  made  by 
Mr.  Green,  the  celebrated  elephant-hunter.  He  over- 
came many  difficulties  in  penetrating  to  that  point, 
and  was  not  able  to  remain  long  enough  to  make  any 
important  observations.  His  account  of  the  beauty  of 
the  scenery  and  the  luxuriance  of  the  vegetation  along 
the  Tioge  corresponds  with  that  given  by  Anderson. 

The  reports  of  the  Kunene  River,  brought  back 
from  the  Ovampo  land,  had  in  the  meantime  led  to 
several  unsuccessful  attempts  to  reach  it.  The  Portu- 
guese in  Benguela,  recognizing  the  value  of  this  river 
to  their  inland  trade,  if  it  should  prove  to  be  naviga- 
ble, sent  vessels  along  the  coast,  which  failed  to  dis- 
cover its  mouth  ;  but  an  expedition  by  land  finally  suc- 
ceeded. The  region  where  the  river  reaches  the  sea 
proved  to  be  a  sandy  desert,  and  the  mouth  is  cut  off 
from  navigation  by  a  long  sand-bank.  Advancing  in- 
land, the  Portuguese  found  that  the  stream  was  narrow 
and  broken  by  cataracts,  whereupon  they  gave  up  all 
further  exploration. 

In  May,  1857,  the  German  missionaries,  Halm  and 
Rath  set  out  from  New-Barwen.  well  provided  with 
wagons,  oxen  and  sheep,  with  the  intention  of  passing 


THE  OKA  VANGO  RIVER.  83 

through  the  Ovampo  land  to  the  Kunene.  In  ten  Jays 
they  reached  a  vast  shallow  plain,  with  no  distinct 
water-courses.  It  seemed  to  be  a  basin  where  the 
rains  collected,  without  any  channel  cf  discharge. 
The  soil  was  covered  with  high  grass,  out  of  which 
rose  the  black  trunks  of  mimosa  trees.  It  was  a  mel- 
ancholy region,  where  the  only  paths  were  those  made 
by  elephants,  and  where  the  ant-hills  were  frequently 
40  feet  in  diameter  and  15  in  height.  The  former 
population  had  been  almost  entirely  exterminated  by 
the  forays  of  the  Demaras,  and  only  a  few  were  found, 
living  in  hidden  nooks,  and  reduced  almost  to  the  con- 
dition of  Bushmen. 

After  passing  lat.  20°,  early  in  June,  the  travellers 
found  the  fan-palm,  at  first  as  a  bush,  but  soon  as  a 
splendid  tree,  50  feet  high.  Near  a  river  called  Omur- 
amba  they  found  herds  of  elephants,  and  here  fell  in 
with  Mr.  Green,  who  joined  their  party.  The  jour- 
ney beyond  was  rendered  difficult  by  the  increasing 
density  of  the  forests,  through  which  they  were  often 
obliged  to  hew  a  way  for  the  wagons.  The  line  of 
their  course  led  to  the  eastward  of  the  Ovampo  coun- 
try, but  early  in  July  their  negro  guides  represented 
that  a  waterless  desert  was  before  them,  and  it  would 
be  impossible  to  reach  the  Kunene  without  turning 
westward.  Ten  days  after  changing  their  direction, 
they  came  suddenly  upon  a  beautiful  lake,  nearly  thir- 
ty miles  in  circumference,  called  by  the  natives  Onan- 
dova.  Here  they  met  with  many  of  the  Ovampo, 
who  were  returning  from  a  neighboring  mountain- 
range,  laden  with  copper  ore  which  they  had  mined 
there. 


84  TRA  VE1  S  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

The  missionaries  had  sent  messengers  to  the  king 
Nangaro,  at  Odongo,  to  announce  their  approach ;  but 
they  now  learned  that  the  men  had  been  guided, 
instead,  to  the  king's  younger  brother,  Chipanga,  who 
had  risen  in  rebellion  against  him,  and  established  an 
independent  sovereignty  of  his  own.  This  was  an 
unfortunate  mistake,  and  led  them  to  expect  an  un- 
friendly reception  from  Nangaro. 

On  the  22d  of  July  they  issued  from  the  jungles, 
and  saw  before  them  the  broad  plain  of  Odongo, 
which  seems  to  have  made  a  very  different  impression 
on  them  from  that  recorded  by  Anderson  and  Galton. 
"  We  saw,"  they  write,  "  some  heaps  of  black  twigs 
and  reeds,  perhaps  four  feet  high,  and  some  high 
poles  planted  in  the  soil,  the  use  of  which  we  could 
not  discover.  We  asked  for  houses,  and  they  pointed 
to  the  heaps  of  reeds :  we  then  approached  and  ex- 
amined them.  The  stakes  and  twigs  are  stuck  in 
the  earth,  so  as  to  form  a  multitude  of  passages  and 
compartments  for  various  purposes, — stalls  for  sheep, 
goats,  cattle,  granaries,  which  are  only  large  baskets, 
and  finally  the  dwellings.  The  latter  have  walls  two 
feet  high,  a  door  eighteen  inches  square,  a  diameter  of 
five  feet,  and  a  height,  in  the  middle,  of  six  feet.  The 
entire  establishment  is  about  120  feet  in  circumference. 
These  residences  are  scattered  over  the  whole  country, 
near  each  other,  ai.d  each  surrounded  by  its  own 
fields" 

Their  intercourse  with  king  Nangaro  was  equally 
unfortunate.  After  they  had  refused  to  accompany 
and  assist  him  in  one  of  his  forays  for  plunder,  he 
forbade   them  to  pass  further    through  his  territory. 


THE  OKA  VANGO  RIVER.  85 

At  the  end  of  a  week  they  decided  to  return,  but  had 
hardly  started  on  their  way,  when  a  loud  war-cry  was 
raised  in  the  king's  hut,  and  immediately  echoed  from 
all  the  huts  scattered  over  the  plain.  In  a  short  time 
the  little  party,  only  30  in  number,  was  surrounded 
and  attacked  by  800  Ovampo  warriors.  The  former 
were,  fortunately,  well-armed,  and  defended  themselves 
so  desperately,  that  after  a  light  of  several  hours  the 
natives  retreated.  The  travellers  now  pushed  rapidly 
forward,  avoiding  the  inhabited  portions  of  the  coun- 
try, without  guides,  in  a  waterless  wilderness,  for 
three  days,  when  they  reached  a  well,  and  could  rest 
without  fear  of  a  new  attack.  Beyond  this  point 
they  ventured  to  resume  the  regular  route,  and  on  the 
11th  of  September  arrived  safely  at  JSTew-Barwen. 

They  afterwards  learned  that  King  Nangaro's  hos- 
tility to  them  had  proved  fatal  to  himself.  The  vigor- 
ous defence  which  the  party  made,  and  the  terror  and 
loss  occasioned  to  his  people  by  fire-arms,  enraged  him 
to  such  a  degree  that  he  was  stricken  with  apoplexy, 
and  died  almost  immediately,  his  great  corpulence 
hastening  the  catastrophe. 

The  following  spring,  1858,  Anderson,  who  had 
returned  to  South  Africa,  fitted  out  a  new  expedition, 
in  order  to  make  a  more  thorough  exploration  of  the 
country  north  of  the  Damara  land.  He  furnished  all 
his  own  wagons  and  supplies,  depending  on  a  good 
harvest  of  ivory  for  payment  of  his  losses  by  the  way. 
He  had  two  servants,  a  Portuguese  named  Mortar,  and 
Pereira,  a  half-breed  from  Malabar,  both  faithful  and 
fearless  men,  and  eight  natives.  He  took  seventy 
sheep  and  goats  for  provision,  extra  oxen,  a  horse  and 


86  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

four  asses  for  riding,  and  a  pack  of  dogs  for  hunting. 
His  main  hope  was  to  reach  the  Kunene  River,  and 
explore,  if  possible,  its  whole  course. 

He  set  out  in  a  northerly  direction,  but  in  a  line 
which  would  have  taken  him  to  the  westward  of  the 
Ovampo  country.  After  crossing  the  Omarurn  River, 
which  flows  into  Whale  Bay,  he  entered  a  plain  covered 
with  those  thorny  thickets  which  are  the  curse  of  a 
great  part  of  South  Africa.  It  was  a  terrible  labor  tc 
break  a  way  for  the  wagons.  In  order  to  give  some 
idea  of  the  toil  and  patience  which  the  explorer  must 
exercise,  Anderson  calculated  that,  for  every  900  feet 
of  distance,  170  bushes  must  be  cut  away,  each  bush 
having  four  tough  stems,  varying  in  thickness  from  the 
size  of  a  man's  linger  to  that  of  his  leg.  On  an  aver- 
age, each  bush  required  twelve  strokes  of  the  axe, 
making  nearly  10,000  strokes  to  the  mile ;  and  when 
we  reflect  that  this  labor  must  be  carried  on  for  a  dis- 
tance of  120  miles,  we  can  then  first  fully  comprehend 
its  magnitude. 

After  twenty-three  days  Anderson's  patience  was 
rewarded  by  seeing  the  last  of  the  thorns  (the  acacia 
detinens  /)  behind  him,  and  before  him  a  forest  of  lofty 
trees,  clear  of  undergrowth.  Beyond  this  there  were 
thorns  again,  but  in  narrower  belts ;  and  the  way  was 
made  difficult  by  gulleys,  deep  lateral  valleys,  and  dry 
water-courses,  which  always  ran  east  and  west,  there- 
fore at  right  angles  to  their  course.  Yet  a  few  days, 
and  he  came  upon  a  magnificent  limestone  wall,  like 
that  of  a  gia&t  fortress,  with  bastions,  ramparts  and 
towerj,  twelve  miles  in  length.  At  its  base  there  wftfl 
a  little  stream,  nearly  dry,  but  still   nourishing  a  rich 


THE  OKA  VANGO  RIVER.  87 

vegetation.     In  the  distance  a  chain  of  mountains,  2000 
feet  in  height,  rose  above  the  plains. 

At  a  place  called  Otjidambi,  where  there  were  five 
springs,  Anderson  found  the  first  sign  of  human  life : 
there  were  evidences  that  a  large  number  of  natives  had 
recently  been  there.  The  country  is  a  table-land,  from 
two  to  four  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level,  bounded 
on  the  west  by  a  range  of  granite  mountains  near  the 
coast,  about  500  miles  in  length,  and  running  nearly 
due  north  and  south.  The  table-land  is  crossed,  at 
right  angles  to  this  chain,  by  hills  of  sandstone  or 
limestone,  while  now  and  then  an  isolated  granite  peak, 
from  one  to  three  thousand  feet  in  height,  crops  out. 
The  face  of  the  country  is  partly  bare  and  stony,  partly 
covered  with  thickets  of  the  thorny  mimosa.  The  val- 
leys which  lie  below  the  general  level  have  running 
streams  during  the  rainy  season,  but  during  the  dry 
months  these  shrink  into  pools  or  marshy  spots,  where 
water  may  be  found  by  digging. 

In  some  of  these  valleys,  the  Damaras  had  settled 
wTith  their  herds,  and  lived  quietly  until  their  retreats 
were  discovered  by  the  Namaquas,  who  made  an  in- 
cursion into  the  country,  the  year  before  Anderson's 
journey,  and,  in  spite  of  the  gallant  resistance  of  the 
Damaras,  carried  off  many  of  their  cattle.  Anderson's 
caravan,  therefore,  was  looked  upon  with  suspicion,  and 
the  natives  hid  themselves  at  his  approach.  As  he  was 
suffering  for  want  of  water,  he  made  a  hunt  for  men 
instead  of  elephants,  and  succeeded  in  capturing  a  man 
and  his  wife.  The  terrified  creatures  received  presents, 
instead  of  the  death  they  expected ;  they  guided  the 
caravan  to  the  nearest  spring,  and  then,  still  mistrust- 


88  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

fnl  of  the  character  of  the  strangers,  made  their  escape 
by  night. 

Nevertheless,  the  hidden  natives  were  enticed,  by 
the  presents  which  the  two  had  received,  to  come  forth, 
and  some  of  them  willingly  offered  their  services  as 
guides.  With  their  aid,  the  journey  was  continued, 
in  a  series  of  zigzags  to  the  right  and  left,  for  between 
three  and  four  hundred  miles.  This  distance,  in  a 
straight  line,  would  have  taken  Anderson  beyond  the 
Kunene  River ;  but  it  was  not  yet  reached.  Meanwhile, 
his  condition  was  becoming  hazardous :  for  two  days 
no  water  had  been  found,  and  the  guides  declared  that 
they  had  lost  the  way  to  the  next  spring.  Men  were 
sent  out  in  all  directions  to  look  for  signs  of  water, 
but,  as  the  night  came  on,  one  after  another  returned, 
without  having  been  successful.  Two  men  still  re- 
mained absent,  but  their  absence  was  not  an  encourag- 
ing sign,  and  Anderson  was  obliged,  without  much 
time  for  reflection,  to  retrace  his  steps. 

Now,  however,  a  new  and  unexpected  danger 
threatened  the  caravan.  The  Damara  herdsmen  are 
accustomed  to  set  fire  to  the  dry  grass,  in  order  to 
hasten  the  growth  of  a  fresh  pasturage  for  their  cattle. 
Anderson  had  frequently  seen  these  fires  in  the  dis- 
tance, without  paying  any  particular  attention  to  them  ; 
but  now,  on  the  return,  almost  perishing  from  thirst, 
he  suddenly  saw  the  lines  of  flame  approaching  in 
front,  and  still  closing  in  as  they  came,  until  the  whole 
eonntry  became  like  a  sea  of  fire.  There  was  no  es- 
cape; but  he  discovered  a  kind  of  channel  where  the 
grass  was  thin,  and  the  oxen  made  their  way  through 
covered  with  showers  of  sparks,  and  scorched  by  tli«» 


THE  OKAVANGi*  RIVER.  89 

falling  branches  of  burning  trees.  When,  finally,  at 
midnight,  he  reached  a  place  where  water  could  be 
obtained  by  digging,  all  the  cattle,  which  had  not  had 
a  drop  for  six  days,  broke  loose  and  dashed  away,  fol- 
lowing their  certain  instinct,  to  the  nearest  Damara 
camping-place.  While  Anderson  and  his  men  were 
resting  here,  the  two  missing  natives  arrived,  having 
actually  found  water  after  long  search. 

But  the  whole  party  had  suffered  too  much,  and 
escaped  too  many  dangers,  to  think  of  turning  about 
again.  They  made  their  way  slowly  back  towards 
the  nearest  mission-station,  and  Anderson  sent  Pereira 
with  the  broken  wagon,  to  have  it  repaired  and  then 
rejoin  him  further  to  the  eastward.  Meantime,  he 
devoted  himself  to  elephant-hunting,  to  replenish  his 
diminishing  resources.  While  thus  engaged  he  met 
a  caravan  of  400  Damaras,  on  their  way  to  the  Ovampo 
land.  Many  of  them  were  women-porters  carrying 
loads  of  beads  and  shells,  to  be  bartered  for  articles  of 
copper  and  iron.  Anderson,  however,  suspected  that 
trade  was  not  the  only  object  of  the  caravan.  He 
noticed  among  the  people  several  subjects  of  the  Na- 
waque  robber-chief,  Yonker  Africaner,  and  rightly 
guessed  that  they  meant  to  spy  out  the  land  and  report 
to  their  master  the  probable  success  of  a  plundering 
expedition. 

At  the  end  of  August,  Pereira  arrived  with  the 
wagon,  and  Anderson  set  out  for  the  lake  Omanbonde, 
which  had  so  disappointed  him  and  Galton  whei  they 
discovered  it  in  1850.  Now,  however,  instead  of  a 
mere  swamp,  he  found  a  fine  sheet  of  water  four  or  five 
miles  in  circumference,  with  another  of  the  samje  size 


90  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

near  it.  The  shores  of  both  swarmed  with  wild  ani- 
mals; the  elephants  came  in  herds  of  a  hundred,  and 
he  was  able  to  kill  a  great  many  of  the  old  male  ani- 
mals, which  furnished  the  most  ivory. 

Anderson  describes  those  nightly  watches,  hidden 
behind  a  high  ant-hill,  or  in  a  dense  thicket,  awaiting 
the  coming  of  the  unsuspecting  beasts  in  the  full 
light  of  the  moon,  and  sometimes  witnessing  their  com- 
bats or  amorous  sports,  as  the  highest  delight  which  a 
true  hunter  can  anywhere  enjoy.  He  was  sometimes 
obliged  to  bring  into  play  all  his  courage  and  self-pos- 
session, wdien,  after  a  close  shot,  the  wounded  animal 
turned  upon  him,  or  the  whole  herd  put  themselves  in 
battle  array.  There  were  also  lions,  rhinocerosses, 
zebras,  gnus  and  antelopes,  so  that  his  table  was  always 
wrell  supplied.  He  asserts  that  lion-steaks  are  very 
good  and  nutritious,  the  taste  being  very  much  like 
that  of  veal. 

He  writes,  in  his  journal :  "  During  my  wander- 
ings in  South  Africa,  I  have  learned  every  variety  of 
hunting,  whether  by  night,  on  the  borders  of  a  lake  or 
a  salt-lick,  or  by  day,  on  foot  or  horseback, — and  I  must 
affirm  that  an  ambush  by  moonlight,  near  a  pool  fre- 
quented by  herds  of  wild  beasts,  far  surpasses  all  else. 
In  the  first  place,  there  is  something  mysterious  and 
exciting  in  the  knowledge  that  one  is  the  hidden,  un- 
suspected witness  of  the  movements,  habits,  and  in- 
stincts of  the  members  of  a  great  natural  menagerie — a 
menagerie  wherein  over-feeding,  the  iron  bars  of  ca 
and  the  brutal  energy  of  the  keepers  has  not  tamed 
the  fierceness  of  animal  life,  or  blunted  their  clastic 
strength,    their   abandonment    to    passion    and    play. 


THE  OKA  VAN  GO  RIVER.  91 

And  then  the  intense  interest  with  which  the  arrival 
of  every  new  animal  is  awaited !  The  distant  footstep, 
which  is  always  distinctly  heard  on  the  stony  soil,  then 
the  strain  of  the  ear  when  the  beast  crosses  a  softer 
strip  of  soil,  the  effort  to  determine  whether  it  is  an  an- 
telope or  an  elephant,  a  wild  bear  or  a  rhinoceros,  a  gnu 
or  a  giraffe,  a  jackal  or  a  lion  !  Moreover,  there  are  con- 
stant opportunities  for  observing  the  habits  and  pecu- 
liarities of  all,  to  an  extent  which  would  be  impossible 
by  daylight.  I  do  not  exaggerate  when  I  say  that  I  have 
learned  more  from  the  tableau  vivant  of  a  single  night, 
than  from  months  of  observation  in  the  sunshine." 

In  a  short  time  so  much  ivory  had  been  collected 
that  Pereira  was  sent  back  to  the  mission  with  a  large 
wagon-load,  and  meanwhile  Anderson  made  an  excur- 
sion to  the  most  eastern  point  which  he  had  reached  in 
the  expedition  of  1850,  with  Galton.  When  he  had 
returned  to  the  lake,  and  was  awaiting  his  attendant's 
return,  the  Damara  caravan  arrived.  When  they 
reached  the  borders  of  the  Ovampo  country,  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  first  village  refused  to  allow  them  to  pro- 
ceed further,  until  the  present  chief,  Chipanga,  should 
send  a  special  permission.  The  Damaras  therefore 
halted,  and  sent  messengers  forward ;  but  they  soon 
returned  with  the  news  that,  under  no  circumstances, 
could  the  caravan  be  allowed  to  enter  the  country. 
At  the  same  time  the  Ovampo  had  inquired  what  An- 
derson's plans  were,  declaring  that  they  were  disgusted 
with  the  conduct  of  the  white  men,  in  using  weapons 
different  from  their  own.  Their  defeat  by  Green  and 
the  missionaries  seemed  to  rankle  very  deeply  in  their 
minds. 


92  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

The  return  of  the  Damara  caravan,  nevertheless, 
enabled  Anderson  to  procure  one  of  the  chiefs  as  a 
guide.  Pereira  returned  from  the  mission  with  new 
supplies,  and  on  the  5th  of  January,  1859,  the  party 
set  out  in  search  of  the  Ovampo  River.  When  the 
missionaries,  Halm  and  Rath,  iirst  discovered  this 
stream,  it  contained  a  considerable  amount  of  water, 
and  from  the  direction  in  which  it  flowed,  they  felt  sure 
that  it  was  a  branch  of  the  Kunene.  There  had  been 
frequent  rains,  and  Anderson  kept  watch,  day  after 
day,  for  the  waters  of  the  river.  But  the  sky  now  re- 
mained clear,  and  evaporation  wrent  on  so  rapidly  that 
pools,  several  feet  deep,  became  dry  ground  in  a  week. 
After  eleven  days'  travel,  they  came  upon  something 
like  a  river-bed,  stretching  to  the  northward,  but  with- 
out any  running  water.  They  used  this  as  a  road, 
and  pushed  onward,  still  hoping  to  reach  the  Ovampo, 
never  suspecting  that  they  were  actually  travelling  in 
its  bed.  After  a  time  its  direction  changed,  and  they 
then  took  to  the  northern  bank.  At  the  end  of  two 
days  more,  the  calcareous  soil  changed  to  dry  sand, 
the  thorny  jungles  wrere  again  encountered,  and  a  new 
plague  came  upon  them  in  the  shape  of  a  fierce  horse- 
fly, which  drew  blood  at  every  bite.  This  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  the  tsetse,  since  the  oxen  did  not 
die,  but  the  hides  of  the  poor  beasts  were  encrusted 
with  blood. 

Having  at  last  reached  a  spot  which  swarmed  wTith 
game,  especially  elephants,  Anderson  made  a  halt  of 
several  days,  to  rest  the  cattle  and  supply  his  caravan 
with  food.  The  flesh  of  the  elephants  was  cut  into 
strips  and  dried  in  the  sun ;  a  heavy  rain  fell,  and  then, 


THE  OKA  VANGO  RIVER.  93 

provided  with  food  and  water  for  a  short  time,  they 
pressed  forwards.  Their  progress  through  the  thorns, 
up  and  down  the  steep  ridges,  was  only  a  few  miles  a 
day,  and  Anderson  at  last  determined  to  choose  one  of 
the  most  promising  of  the  dry  water-courses  and  follow 
it  to  the  westward.  This  soon  brought  them  upon  the 
dry,  waste  table-land  they  had  traversed  the  year  before. 

Here,  however,  they  fell  in  with  a  Bushman  chief, 
who  had  accompanied  the  German  missionaries  in  their 
journey,  and  who  eagerly  offered  to  guide  them,  on  the 
condition  that  he  should  have  an  entire  elephant  as  pay. 
His  name  was  Kaganda :  he  proved  to  be  an  active, 
intelligent  fellow,  who  not  only  knew  every  little  pool 
or  marshy  spot  in  the  whole  country,  but  imparted  a 
secret  which  was  of  great  service.  He  showed  them 
that  a  large  tree,  with  willow-like  leaves,  was  generally 
hollow,  and  formed  a  natural  cistern,  wherein  rain-water 
was  preserved  for  a  long  time.  They  tried  the  experi- 
ment, and  found  good  supplies  of  water,  which  was  still 
tolerably  fresh. 

Kaganda  conducted  the  caravan  through  a  region 
which  swarmed  with  elephants,  until  finally,  the  land- 
marks were  unknown  to  him,  and  he  confessed  that  he 
could  act  as  guide  no  longer.  Anderson,  as  in  the  for- 
mer journey,  sent  out  and  captured  a  native  and  his 
wife,  and  learned  from  them  that  the  river  he  hoped  to 
reach  was  only  distant  a  journey  of  two  and  a  half  days. 
He  thereupon  left  his  wagons  and  heavy  baggage  near 
a  water-pool,  took  half  of  his  men  with  him,  and  set 
out.  It  was  still  uncertain  what  the  Bushmen  meant 
by  "  a  river."  He  hoped  it  might  be  the  Kunene,  yet 
it  was  possibly  merely  a  dry  water-course,  where  the 


94  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

stream  had  shrunk  to  detached  pools.  On  the  second 
day,  in  fact,  he  reached  such  a  dry  bed,  or  valley, 
running  from  south  to  north,  with  the  usual  muddy 
pools,  but,  in  addition  to  them,  fresh  springs  and  wells, 
— a  refreshment  he  had  long  missed.  Following  this 
channel  until  noon  the  next  day,  the  Bushman  guides 
began  to  prepare  themselves  for  a  meeting  with  the  in- 
habitants of  the  region  watered  by  the  promised  river, 
by  hiding  their  best  arrows  in  the  trees.  They 
declared  that  the  people  they  were  approaching  were  a 
race  of  scamps,  who  would  attempt  to  plunder  them  of 
all  they  owned. 

Anderson  rode  on  in  a  state  of  great  excitement 
and  expectation,  his  eyes  turned  to  the  north.  Finally, 
he  perceived  a  mountain-chain,  along  the  horizon,  run- 
ning east  and  west,  and  soon  afterwards  found  himself 
on  the  bank  of  a  river,  600  hundred  feet  in  breadth.  It 
did  not  seem  to  be  any  of  the  streams  of  which  he  had 
previously  heard.  The  Ovampo  had  spoken  to  him  of 
a  large  river  which  flowed  westward  towards  the  ocean  ; 
but  this,  upon  whose  banks  he  stood,  flowed  distinctly 
eastward,  into  the  heart  of  the  continent.  He  was, 
therefore,  inclined  to  look  upon  it  as  a  great  affluent  of 
the  Zambesi.  The  natives  called  the  river  the  OJca- 
vango.  Anderson  guessed  that  the  point  he  reached 
wras  somewhere  between  17°  and  18°  S.  Lat.  and  17° 
and  19°  E.  from  Greenwich.  It  is  rather  difficult  to 
understand  that  a  considerable  branch  of  the  Zambesi 
should  be  met  with  here :  the  absence  of  an  exact  ob- 
servation leaves  the  question  still  undecided.  In  spite  of 
its  eastern  course  the  river  may  have  been  the  Kunene. 

On  the  right  bank,  upon  which  he  found  himself, 


1SK1I0LD!    A    WHITE   MAN." 


THE  OKA  VANGO  RIVER.  95 

there  were  no  settlements  of  the  Okavangari,  as  the 
tribe  is  called.  They  saw  some  habitations  on  the  op- 
posite bank,  and  it  required  a  'calling  back  and  forth,  a 
negotiation  which  lasted  more  than  two  hours,  before 
the  suspicious  natives  consented  to  bring  their  boats. 
They  finally  came  armed,  but  were  gradually  persuaded 
that  the  strangers  were  peaceful. 

In  order  to  avoid  any  difficulties  in  his  further  ex- 
ploration of  the  river,  Anderson  sent  a  messenger  to 
the  principal  chief  of  the  tribe,  Chikongo,  and  begged 
that  he  might  be  received  as  a  friend.  The  village 
where  the  chief  resided  lay  further  to  the  south,  and 
the  messenger  soon  returned  with  an  invitation  from 
Chikongo  that  Anderson  should  visit  him,  with  assur- 
ances of  his  friendship.  In  the  meantime  the  traveller 
had  been  well  entertained,  the  natives  having  furnished 
him  with  meal  and  fruit,  and  also  a  cow.  He  waited 
in  vain,  however,  for  the  arrival  of  a  boat,  and  could 
only,  at  last,  obtain  with  great  difficulty  a  miserable 
canoe  and  a  single  guide.  He  soon  perceived  that  the 
power  of  a  chief  over  his  subjects  was  by  no  means  ab- 
solute, each  of  them  acting  much  as  he  pleased.  The 
native  who  had  taken  him  in  his  frail  canoe,  seemed 
to  consider  the  voyage  in  the  light  of  his  own  amuse- 
ment and  vanity  ;  for,  instead  of  keeping  in  the  swifter 
current,  he  floated  slowly  along  the  banks,  and  stopped 
at  every  hut  in  order  to  show  the  people  the  strange 
white  man.  Anderson  began  to  look  upon  himself  as 
a  curious  animal ;  but  these  incidents  at  least  enabled 
him  to  observe  the  natives  very  thoroughly.  He  found 
the  men  nearly  all  strong  and  well-built,  while  each 
woman  seemed  to  him  uglier  than  the  others. 


96  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA, 

The  river  and  the  landscapes  on  either  side  were 
delightful.  Here  and  there  the  current  was  inter- 
rupted by  islands,  on  which  crocodiles  were  sunning 
themselves ;  hippopotamus  and  water-fowl  were  also 
6een.  Among  the  latter  Anderson  noticed  a  new  va- 
riety of  wild-goose,  four  feet  high.  The  river-bottoms 
were  covered  with  fields  of  grain,  and  fruit-trees,  and 
ranges  of  wooded  mountains  on  either  hand  enclosed 
the  landscapes. 

At  noon  on  the  second  day  of  the  voyage  he 
reached  the  residence  of  the  chief,  Chikongo.  The 
houses  of  the  village  had  precisely  the  appearance  of 
bee-hives,  and  stood  close  together :  around  all  there 
was  a  strong  stockade,  as  a  defence  against  enemies. 
The  chief  was  as  naked  and  as  thickly  plastered  with 
grease  and  ochre  as  any  of  his  subjects ;  he  only  wore 
a  few  more  beads  and  rings,  and  carried  two  or  three 
daggers  of  native  make  in  his  girdle.  One  of  the  na- 
tives, who  understood  the  Bechuana  language,  which 
Anderson  also  spoke,  interpreted  a  hearty  welcome  to 
the  latter.  The  chief  excused  himself  for  entertaining 
the  stranger  in  such  a  rude  manner,  "  like  a  Bush- 
man," on  the  ground  that  the  Makololo  (Livingstone's 
friends,  on  the  Zambesi)  had,  a  short  time  before,  car- 
ried away  the  most  of  his  cattle.  Anderson  further 
learned  that  the  negro  traders  from  Benguela  visit  this 
region,  and  exchange  beads,  powder,  guns  and  brandy, 
for  ivory  and  slaves. 

In  the  mountains  to  the  northward  there  are  rich 
mines  of  ir<»n  and  copper,  and  the  natives  are  skilled  in 
smelting  the  ores  and  manufacturing  the  metals  into 
various  articles,  partly  for  their  own  use,  and  partly 


THE  OKA  VANGO  RIVER.  97 

for  barter.  They  stated  that  the  Ovampo  land  lay  to 
the  west  of  them,  and  the  tribe  of  Bavickos  to  the 
east,  whose  capital  was  the  town  of  Libebe,  which 
Anderson  had  tried  to  reach  on  the  Tioge  River.  To 
the  south,  they  said,  there  was  nothing  but  deserts. 

After  a  stay  of  three  days  in  Chikongo's  village, 
Anderson  returned  to  the  spot  where  he  had  left  his 
wagons,  and  brought  the  whole  caravan  safely  to  the 
Okavango  River.  All  aspects  now  seemed  favorable, 
and  he  projected  plans  for  the  exploration  of  the  river, 
which  wrere  suddenly  frustrated  by  the  appearance  of 
another  deadly  enemy  of  the  African  traveller — fever. 
It  was  the  dry  season,  and  the  exhalations  from  the 
pools  and  marshes  make  the  air  pestilential.  Scarcely 
had  the  party  reached  the  river-bank,  when  Anderson 
and  five  or  six  others  were  prostrated.  For  a  whole 
month  he  waited  from  day  to  day,  hoping  to  grow 
better,  but  at  last  was  compelled  to  turn  back,  as  the 
only  means  of  saving  his  life. 

He  returned  upon  his  old  trail,  difficult  and  dan- 
gerous as  he  had  found  it.  This  time,  also,  the  plains 
of  dry  grass  were  on  fire  in  various  places.  It  almost 
appeared  as  if  the  Bushmen  had  intended  to  check  the 
march  of  the  weakened  caravan,  and  finally  obtain 
through  fire  or  starvation  the  plunder  which  they 
were  too  cowardly  to  fight  for.  Once,  indeed,  the  dan- 
ger was  so  near  that  only  a  sudden  change  of  the  wind 
saved  the  whole  party  from  death. 

About  this  time,  Mr.  Green,  who  was  at  the  mission- 
station,  learned  that  the  Ovampo  chief,  Chipango,  had 
sent  out  a  body  of  his  people  to  intercept  Anderson's 
'return,  and  cut  him  off.  He  hastily  gathered  together 
1 


98  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

a  small  body  of  men,  and  pressed  forward  to  meet  and 
assist  his  friend.  The  latter,  however,  had  kept  such 
a  strict  guard  that  the  natives  found  no  opportunity  of 
taking  him  by  surprise,  and  they  did  not  dare  to  ven- 
ture an  open  attack. 

Green  and  Anderson  met  at  the  Ovampo  River,  and 
all  danger  was  over.  But  Anderson  was  in  a  state  of 
great  exhaustion,  from  the  fever  which  still  clung  to 
him,  and  the  privations  and  anxieties  of  the  return 
march.     This  was  his  last  journey. 

In  the  winter  of  1860,  Green,  accompanied  by  his 
brother,  also  reached  the  Okavango  River.  His  main 
object  was  elephant-hunting,  and  he  killed  42  animals 
in  three  months.  He  found  the  native  tribe  on  the  river 
to  be  peaceable,  timid  people,  with  whom  he  had  no 
difficulties.  They  were  then  suffering  from  the  raids  of 
the  Namaqua  chief,  Yonker  Africaner,  who  had  taken 
possession  of  the  Ovampo  country,  and  was  sending  out 
plundering  expeditions  in  all  directions. 

Green  relates  that  he  could  easily  have  reached  the 
Kunene  River.  The  chief  Chikongo  offered  him  guides 
thither ;  but  it  was  now  the  hot  and  unhealthy  season, 
and  he  feared  that  Anderson's  experience  might  become 
his  own.  Many  geographical  details  of  the  region 
lying  between  the  central  Zambesi  valley  and  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  still  remain  to  be  cleared  up  ;  yet  so 
much  has  been  achieved  by  Anderson,  Green,  and  Mag 
yar,  that  all  its  most  important  features  are  now 
knowu. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


I. — TO   THE    MAKOLOLO    COUNTRY. 

LIVINGSTONE'S  plan,  after  having  sent  his  wife 
and  children  to  England,  was  to  return  alone  to 
the  Makololo  country,  on  the  Zambesi  River,  and  con- 
tinue his  explorations  until  he  should  discover  a  healthy- 
region  wherein  to  establish  a  new  missionary  station, 
with  which  communication  might  be  kept  up,  either 
with  the  Cape,  or  the  eastern  or  western  coast.  The 
opening  of  trade  with  the  natives  was,  of  course,  an  in- 
cidental advantage,  and  thus  the  selection  of  a  practi- 
cal route  was  included  in  his  design.  He  was  heartily 
supported  by  the  London  Missionary  Society  in  his 
undertaking,  and  set  out  from  Capetown  in  June,  1852, 
tolerably  well  provided  for  the  journey,  the  extent 
and  importance  of  which  he  was  far  from  anticipating 
at  the  time. 

The  travel  through  the  colony  and  the  Griqua 
country,  made  in  wagons  drawn  by  oxen,  was  neces- 
sarily slow.  Livingstone  was  obliged  to  remain  some 
time  at  Kuruman,  on  account  of  the  raid  which  the 
Boers  of  the  Transvaal  Republic  had  made  upon  Kolo- 
beng  and  the  Bechuanas,  and  the  consequent  insecur- 
ity of  the  country.  He  gives  the  following  interesting 
account  of  the  native  language  : 


100  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

"  During  the  period  of  my  visit  at  Kuruman,  Mr 
Moffat,  who  has  been  a  missionary  in  Africa  during 
upward  of  forty  years,  and  is  well  known  by  his  inter- 
esting work,  *  Scenes  and  Labors  in  South  Africa,'  was 
busily  engaged  in  carrying  through  the  press,  with 
which  his  station  is  furnished,  the  Bible  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Bechuanas,  which  is  called  Sichuana. 
This  has  been  a  wrork  of  immense  labor;  and  as  he 
was  the  first  to  reduce  their  speech  to  a  written  form, 
and  has  had  his  attention  directed  to  the  study  for  at 
least  thirty  years,  he  may  be  supposed  to  be  better 
adapted  for  the  task  than  any  man  living.  Some  idea 
of  the  copiousness  of  the  language  may  be  formed  from 
the  fact  that  even  he  never  spends  a  week  at  his  work 
without  discovering  new  words ;  the  phenomenon, 
therefore,  of  any  man  who,  after  a  few  months'  or 
years'  study  of  a  native  tongue,  cackles  forth  a  torrent 
of  vocables,  may  well  be  wondered  at,  if  it  is  meant  to 
convey  instruction.  In  my  own  case,  though  I  have 
had  as  much  intercourse  with  the  purest  idiom  as  most 
Englishmen,  and  have  studied  the  language  carefully, 
yet  I  can  never  utter  an  important  statement  without 
doing  so  very  slowly,  and  repeating  it  too,  lest  the  for- 
eign accent,  which  is  distinctly  perceptible  in  all  Euro- 
peans, should  render  the  sense  unintelligible.  In  this  I 
follow  the  example  of  the  Bechuana  orators,  who,  on  im- 
portant matters,  always  speak  slowly,  deliberately,  and 
with  reiteration.  The  capabilities  of  this  language  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  Pentateuch  is  fully 
expressed  in  Mr.  Moffat's  translation  in  fewer  words 
than  in  the  Greek  Septuagint,  and  in  a  very  considera- 
bly smaller  number  than  in  our  own  English  version. 


4- 

THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.  101 

"Having  been  detained  at  Kuruman  about  a 
fortnight  by  the  breaking  of  a  wagon-wheel,  I  was 
thus  providentially  prevented  from  being  present  at 
the  attack  of  the  Boers  on  the  Bakwains,  news  of 
which  was  brought  about  the  end  of  that  time,  by 
Masebele,  the  wife  of  Sechele.  She  had  herself  been 
hidden  in  a  cleft  of  a  rock,  over  which  a  number  of 
Boers  were  firing.  Her  infant  began  to  cry,  and, 
terrified  lest  this  should  attract  the  attention  ot  the 
men,  the  muzzles  of  whose  guns  appeared  at  every 
discharge  over  her  head,  she  took  oft'  her  armlets  as 
playthings  to  quiet  the  child.  She  brought  Mr. 
Moffat  a  letter,  which  tells  its  own  tale.  Nearly  liter- 
ally translated,  it  was  as  follows  : 

" '  Friend  of  my  heart's  love,  and  of  all  the  confi- 
dence of  my  heart,  I  am  Sechele.  I  am  undone  by 
the  Boers,  who  attacked  me,  though  I  had  no  guilt 
with  them.  They  demanded  that  I  should  be  in  their 
kingdom,  and  I  refused.  They  demanded  that  I 
should  prevent  the  English  and  Griquas  from  passing 
(northward).  I  replied,  These  are  my  friends,  and  I 
can  prevent  no  one  (of  them).  They  came  on  Satur- 
day, and  I  besought  them  not  to  fight  on  Sunday,  and 
they  assented.  They  began  on  Monday  morning  at 
twilight,  and  fired  with  all  their  might,  and  burned 
the  town  with  fire,  and  scattered  us.  They  killed 
sixty  of  my  people,  and  captured  women,  and  children, 
and  men.  And  the  mother  of  Baleriling  (a  former 
wife  of  Sechele)  they  also  took  prisoner.  They  took 
ill  the  cattle  and  all  the  goods  of  the  Bakwains ;  and 
the  house  of  Livingstone  they  plundered,  taking  away 


102  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

all  liis  goods.  The  number  of  wagons  they  had  was 
eighty-five,  and  a  cannon ;  and  after  they  had  stolen 
my  own  wagon  and  that  of  Macabe,  then  the  number 
of  their  wagons  (counting  the  cannon  as  one)  was 
eighty-eight.  All  the  goods  of  the  hunters  (certain 
English  gentlemen  hunting  and  exploring  in  the 
north)  were  burnt  in  the  town;  and  of  the  Boers 
were  killed  twenty-eight.  Yes,  my  beloved  friend, 
my  wife  goes  to  see  the  children,  and  Kobus  Hae 
will  convey  her  to  you. 

"  '  I  am,  Sechele, 

" '  The  Son  of  Mochoasele.' " 

It  was  some  time  before  Livingstone  found  three 
servants  who  were  willing  to  risk  a  journey  to  thf 
north.  He  was  finally  successful,  and  also  accepted 
the  company  of  a  colored  man  named  Fleming,  who 
was  desirous  of  opening  trade  with  the  Makololos.  On 
the  20th  of  November  they  left  Kuruman,  and  soon  af- 
terwards met  the  chief  Sechele,  on  his  way  to  the  Cape. 
He  was  determined  to  embark  for  England,  and  lay 
his  grievances  before  the  Queen.  He  succeeded  in  get- 
ting as  far  as  Capetown,  but  there  his  means  became 
exhansted,  and  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  his  country 

"Having  parted  with  Sechele,"  Livingstone  con 
tinucs,  "we  skirted  along  the  Kalihari  Desert,  and 
sometimes  within  its  borders,  giving  the  Boers  a  wide 
berth.  A  larger  fall  of  rain  than  usual  had  occurred 
in  1852,  and  that  was  the  completion  of  a  cycle  of 
eleven  or  twelve  years,  at  which  the  same  phenomenon 
is  reported  to  have  happened  on  three  occasions.  An 
unusually  large  crop  of  melons  had  appeared  in  conse- 


THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.  103 

quence.  We  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  with  Mr 
J.  Macabe  returning  from  Lake  Ngami,  whkt  he  had 
succeeded  in  reaching  by  going  right  across  the  desert 
from  a  point  a  little  to  the  south  of  Kolobeng.  The 
accounts  of  the  abundance  of  water-melons  were  amply 
confirmed  by  this  energetic  traveller ;  for,  having  these 
in  vast  quantities,  his  cattle  subsisteO  on  the  fluid  con 
tained  in  them  for  a  period  of  no  less  than  twenty-om 
days;  and  when  at  last  they  reached  a  supply  of  water, 
they  did  not  seem  to  care  much  ao.vit  it.  Coming  to 
the  lake  from  the  south-east,  he  crowed  the  Teoughe, 
and  wrent  round  the  northern  part  of  ii,  and  is  the 
only  European  traveller  wdio  had  actually  seen  it  all. 
His  estimate  of  the  extent  of  the  lake  Is  higher  than 
that  given  by  Mr.  Oswell  and  myself  or  from  about 
ninety  to  one  hundred  miles  in  circumference. 

"  On  the  31st  of  December,  1852,  we  reached  the 
town  of  Sechele,  called,  from  the  part  of  the  range  on 
which  it  is  situated,  Litubaruba.  Near  the  village  there 
exists  a  cave  named  Lepelole ;  it  is  an  interesting  evi 
dence  of  the  former  existence  of  a  gushing  fountain. 
No  one  dared  to  enter  the  Lohaheng,  or  cave,  for  it 
wTas  the  common  belief  that  it  was  the  habitation  of 
the  Deity.  As  we  never  had  a  holiday  from  Januar> 
to  December,  and  our  Sundays  were  the  periods  ol 
our  greatest  exertions  in  teaching,  I  projected  an  ex- 
cursion into  the  cave  on  a  week-day  to  see  the  god  of 
the  Bakwains.  The  old  men  said  that  every  one  who 
went  in  there  remained  there  forever,  adding,  '  If  the 
teacher  is  so  mad  as  to  kill  himself,  let  him  do  so  alone 
we  shall  not  be  to  blame.'  The  declaration  of  Sechele 
that  he  would  follow  where  I  led,  produced  the  great 


104  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

est  consternation.  It  is  curious  that  in  all  their  pre 
tended  dreams  or  visions  of  their  god,  he  has  always  a 
crooked  leg,  like  the  Egyptian  Thau.  Supposing  that 
those  who  were  reported  to  have  perished  in  this  cave 
had  fallen  over  some  precipice,  we  went  well  provided 
with  lights,  ladder,  lines,  etc. ;  but  it  turned  out  to  be 
only  an  open  cave,  with  an  entrance  about  ten  feet 
square,  which  contracts  into  two  water-wrorn  branches, 
ending  in  round  orifices  through  which  the  water  once 
flowed.  The  only  inhabitants  it  seems  ever  to  have 
had  were  baboons.  I  left  at  the  end  of  the  upper 
branch  one  of  Father  Mathew's  leaden  teetotal  tickets. 

"  The  Bechuanas  are  universally  much  attached  to 
children.  A  little  child  toddling  near  a  party  of  men 
while  they  are  eating  is  sure  to  get  a  handful  of  the 
food.  This  love  of  children  may  arise,  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, from  the  patriarchal  system  under  which  they 
dwell.  Every  little  stranger  forms  an  increase  of  prop- 
erty to  the  whole  community,  and  is  duly  reported  to 
the  chief — boys  being  more  welcome  than  girls.  The 
parents  take  the  name  of  the  child,  and  often  address 
their  children  as  Ma  (mother),  or  Ra  (father).  Our 
eldest  boy  being  named  Robert.  Mrs.  Livingstone 
was,  after  his  birth,  always  addressed  as  Ma-Robert, 
instead  of  Mary,  her  Christian  name. 

"  The  whole  of  the  country  adjacent  to  the  desert, 
from  Kuruman  to  Kolobeng,  or  Litubaruba,  and  be- 
yond up  to  the  latitude  of  Lake  Ngami,  is  remarkable 
for  its  great  salubrity  of  climate.  Not  only  the  na- 
tives, but  Europeans  whose  constitutions  have  been 
impaired  by  an  Indian  climate,  find  the  tract  of  coun 
try    indicated    both    healthy    and    restorative.     The 


THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.  105 

health  and  longevity  of  the  missionaries  have  always 
been  fair,  though  mission- work  is  not  very  conducive 
to  either  elsewhere.  Cases  have  been  known  in 
which  patients  have  come  from  the  coast  with  com- 
plaints closely  resembling,  if  they  were  not  actually, 
those  of  consumption ;  and  they  have  recovered  by 
the  influence  of  the  climate  alone.  It  must  always  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  climate  near  the  coast,  from 
which  we  received  such  very  favorable  reports  of  the 
health  of  the  British  troops,  is  actually  inferior  for 
persons  suffering  from  pulmonary  complaints  to  that 
of  any  part  not  subjected  to  the  influence  of  sea-air. 
I  have  never  seen  the  beneficial  effects  of  the  inland 
climate  on  persons  of  shattered  constitutions,  nor 
heard  their  high  praises  of  the  benefit  they  have  de- 
rived from  travelling,  without  wishing  that  its  bracing 
effects  should  become  more  extensively  known  in 
England. 

"  Having  remained  five  days  wTith  the  wretched 
Bakwains,  seeing  the  effects  of  war,  of  which  only  a 
very  inadequate  idea  can  ever  be  formed  by  those  who 
have  not  been  eye-witnesses  of  its  miseries,  we  pre- 
pared to  depart  on  the  15th  of  January,  1853.  On 
the  21st  we  reached  the  wells  of  Boatlanama,  and 
found  them  for  the  first  time  empty.  Lopepe,  which 
I  had  formerly  seen,  a  stream  running  from  a  large 
reedy  pool,  was  also  dry.  The  hot  salt  springs  of 
Serinane,  east  of  Lopepe,  being  undrinkable,  we 
pushed  on  to  Mashiie  for  its  delicious  waters.  In  trav- 
elling through  this  country,  the  olfactory  nerves  are 
frequently  excited  by  a  strong  disagreeable  odor. 
This    is    caused  by    a    large    jet-black    ant    named 


106  TRA  VELS  M  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

'  Leshonya.'  It  is  nearly  an  inch  in  length,  and  emits 
a  pungent  smell  when  alarmed,  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  skunk.  The  scent  must  be  as  volatile  as  ether, 
for,  on  irritating  the  insect  with  a  stick  six  feet  long, 
the  odor  is  instantly  perceptible. 

"  Occasionally  we  lighted  upon  land  tortoises,  which, 
with  their  unlaid  eggs,  make  a  very  agreeable  dish. 
We  saw  many  of  their  trails  leading  to  the  salt  foun- 
tain ;  they  must  have  come  great  distances  for  this 
health-giving  article.  In  lieu  thereof  they  often  de- 
vour wood-ashes.  It  is  wonderful  how  this  reptile 
holds  its  place  in  tiu  country.  When  seen,  it  never 
escapes.  The  young  are  taken  for  the  sake  of  their 
shells ;  these  are  made  into  boxes,  which,  filled  with 
sweet-smelling  roots,  the  women  hang  around  their 
persons.  When  older  it  is  used  as  food,  and  the  shell 
converted  into  a  rude  basin  to  hold  food  or  water.  It 
owes  its  continuance  neither  to  speed  nor  cunning. 
Its  color,  yellow  and  dark  brown,  is  well  adapted,  by 
its  similarity  to  the  surrounding  grass  and  brushwood, 
to  render  it  indistinguishable ;  and,  though  it  makes 
an  awkward  attempt  to  run  on  the  approach  of  man, 
its  trust  is  in  its  bony  covering,  from  which  even  the 
teeth  of  a  hysena  glance  off  foiled.  When  this  long, 
lived  creature  is  about  to  deposit  her  eggs,  she  lets 
herself  into  the  ground  by  throwing  the  earth  up 
round  her  shell,  until  only  the  top  is  visible ;  then 
covering  up  the  eggs,  she  leaves  them  until  the  rains 
begin  to  fall  and  the  fresh  herbage  appears;  the  young 
ones  then  come  out,  their  shells  still  quite  soft,  and, 
unattended  by  their  dam,  begin  the  world  for  them- 
selves.    Their  food  is  tender  grass  and  a  plant  named 


THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.  107 

tkotoim  arid  they  frequently  resort  to  heaps  of  ashes 
and  places  containing  efflorescence  of  the  nitrates"  for 
the  salts  these  contain." 

Livingstone  also  gives  the  following  interesting 
account  of  the  South  African  ostrich  and  its  habits : 
"  The  ostrich  is  generally  seen  quietly  feeding  on  some 
spot  where  no  one  can  approach  him  without  being 
detected  by  his  wary  eye.  As  the  wagon  moves  along 
far  to  the  windward  he  thinks  it  is  intending  to  cir- 
cumvent him,  so  he  rushes  up  a  mile  or  so  from  the 
leeward,  and  so  near  to  the  front  oxen  that  one  some- 
times gets  a  shot  at  the  silly  bird.  When  he  begins 
to  run  all  the  game  in  sight  follow  his  example.  I  have 
seen  this  folly  taken  advantage  of  when  he  was  feeding 
quietly  in  a  valley  open  at  both  ends.  A  number  of 
men  would  commence  running,  as  if  to  cut  off  his  re- 
treat from  the  end  through  which  the  wind  came  ;  and 
although  he  had  the  whole  country  hundreds  of  miles 
before  him  by  going  to  the  other  end,  on  he  madly 
rushed  to  get  past  the  men,  and  so  was  speared.  He 
never  swerves  from  the  course  he  once  adopts,  but 
only  increases  his  speed. 

"  When  the  ostrich  is  feeding,  his  pace  is  from  twenty 
to  twenty -two  inches ;  when  walking,  but  not  feeding, 
it  is  twenty-six  inches ;  and  when  terrified,  as  in  the 
case  noticed,  it  is  from  eleven  and  a  half  to  thirteen 
and  even  fourteen  feet  in  length.  Only  in  one  case 
wTas  I  at  all  satisfied  of  beins;  able  to  count  the  rate  of 
speed  by  a  stop-watch,  and,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  there 
Hrere  thirty  in  ten  seconds ;  generally  one's  eye  can  no 
more  follow  the  legs  than  it  can  the  spokes  of  a  car- 
riage-wheel in  rapid  motion.     If  we  take  the  above 


108  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

number,  and  twelve  feet  stride  as  the  average  pace, 
we  have  a  speed  of  twenty-six  miles  an  hour.  It  can- 
not be  very  much  above  that,  and  is  therefore  slower 
than  a  railway  locomotive.  They  are  sometimes  shot 
by  the  horseman  making  a  cross  cut  to  their  undevia- 
ting  course,  but  few  Englishmen  ever  succeed  in  kill- 
ing them. 

The  ostrich  begins  to  lay  her  eggs  before  she  has 
fixed  on  a  spot  for  a  nest,  which  is  only  a  hollow  a  few 
inches  deep  in  the  sand,  and  about  a  yard  in  diameter. 
Solitary  eggs,  named  by  the  Bechuanas  "  lesetla,"  are 
thus  found  lying  forsaken  all  over  the  country,  and 
become  a  prey  to  the  jackal.  She  seems  averse  to 
risking  a  spot  for  a  nest,  and  often  lays  her  eggs  in 
that  of  another  ostrich,  so  that  as  many  as  forty-five 
have  been  found  in  one  nest.  Some  eggs  contain 
small  concretions  of  the  matter  which  forms  the  shell, 
as  occurs  also  in  the  egg  of  the  common  fowl :  this 
has  given  rise  to  the  idea  of  stones  in  the  eggs.  Both 
male  and  female  assist  in  the  incubations  ;  but  the 
numbers  of  females  being  always  greatest,  it  is  prob- 
able that  cases  occur  in  which  the  females  have  the 
entire  charge.  Several  eggs  lie  out  of  the  nest,  and 
are  thought  to  be  intended  as  food  for  the  first  of  the 
newly-hatched  brood  till  the  rest  come  out  and  enable 
the  whole  to  start  in  quest  of  food.  I  have  several 
times  seen  newly-hatched  young  in  charge  of  the 
cock,  who  made  a  very  good  attempt  at  appearing 
lame  in  the  plover  fashion,  in  order  to  draw  off  the  at- 
tention of  pursuers.  The  young  squat  down  and  re- 
main immovable  when  too  small  to  run  far,  but  attain 
a  wonderful  degree  of  speed  when  about  the  size  of 


THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.  109 

common  fowls.  It  cannot  be  asserted  that  ostriches 
are  polygamous,  though  they  often  appear  to  be  so. 
When  caught  they  are  easily  tamed,  but  are  of  no  use 
in  their  domesticated  state. 

"  The  egg  is  possessed  of  very  great  vital  power. 
One  kept  in  a  room  during  more  than  three  months,  in 
a  temperature  about  60°,  when  broken,  was  found  to 
have  a  partially-developed  live  chick  in  it.  The  Bush- 
men carefully  avoid  touching  the  eggs,  or  leaving 
marks  of  human  feet  near  them,  when  they  find  a  nest. 
They  go  up  the  wind  to  the  spot,  and  with  a  long  stick 
remove  some  of  them  occasionally,  and,  by  preventing 
any  suspicion,  keep  the  hen  laying  on  for  months,  as 
we  do  with  fowls.  The  eggs  have  a  strong,  disagree- 
able flavor,  which  only  the  keen  appetite  of  the  desert 
can  reconcile  one  to.  The  Hottentots  use  their  trow- 
sers  to  carry  home  the  twenty  or  twenty-live  eggs  usu- 
ally found  in  a  nest ;  and  it  has  happened  that  an  Eng- 
lishman intending  to  imitate  this  knowing  dodge,  comes 
to  the  wagons  with  blistered  legs,  and,  after  great  toil, 
finds  all  the  eggs  uneatable,  from  having  been  some 
time  sat  upon." 

When  they  reached  the  Bamangwato  tribe,  the 
chief  Sekomi  was  particularly  friendly,  and  collected 
the  natives  of  his  encampment  to  hear  the  religious 
services.  Here  the  caravan  rested  for  some  days  before 
advancing  into  the  arid  plains  to  the  eastward  of  Lake 
Xgami,  over  which  Livingstone  had  passed  in  his  first 
journey  to  the  Makololo  country.  He  adds  some  cu- 
rious particulars  of  the  habits  of  the  natives  :  "  All  the 
Bechuana  and  Kaffer  tribes  south  of  the  Zambesi  prac- 
tice circumcision  Q>oguera>,  but  the  rites  observed  are 


110  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

carefully  concealed.  The  initiated  alone  can  approach, 
but  in  this  town  I  was  once  a  spectator  of  the  second 
part  of  the  ceremony  of  the  circumcision,  called  '  se- 
chu.'  Just  at  the  dawn  of  day,  a  row  of  boys  of 
nearly  fourteen  years  of  age  stood  naked  in  the  kotla, 
each  having  a  pair  of  sandals  as  a  shield  on  his  hands. 
Facing  them  stood  the  men  of  the  town  in  a  similar 
state  of  nudity,  all  armed  with  long  thin  wands,  of  a 
tough,  strong,  supple  bush  called  moretloa  (Grewia 
flava),  and  engaged  in  a  dance  named  'koha,'  in 
which  questions  are  put  to  the  boys,  as  'Will  you 
guard  the  chief  well  ? '  '  Will  you  herd  the  cattle 
well?'  and,  while  the  latter  give  an  affirmative  re- 
sponse, the  men  rush  forward  to  them,  and  each  aims 
a  full-weight  blow  at  the  back  of  one  of  the  boys. 
Shielding  himself  with  the  sandals  above  his  head,  he 
causes  the  supple  wand  to  descend  and  bend  into  his 
back,  and  every  stroke  inflicted  thus  makes  the  blood 
squirt  out  of  a  wound  a  foot  or  eighteen  inches  long. 
At  the  end  of  the  dance,  the  boys'  backs  are  seamed 
with  wounds  and  weals,  the  scars  of  which  remain 
through  life.  This  is  intended  to  harden  the  young 
soldiers,  and  prepare  them  for  the  rank  of  men.  After 
this  ceremony,  and  after  killing  a  rhinoceros,  they 
may  marry  a  wife, 

**No  one  of  the  natives  knows  how  old  he  is.  If 
asked  his  age,  he  answers  by  putting  another  ques- 
tion, ■  Does  a  man  remember  when  he  was  born  ? ' 
Age  is  reckoned  by  the  number  of  mepato  they  have 
6een  pass  through  the  formulae  of  admission.  When 
they  see  four  or  five  mepato  younger  than  themselves, 
they  are  no  longer  obliged  to  bear  arms.     The  oldest 


THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.  \\\ 

individual  I  ever  met  boasted  lie  had  seen  eleven  sets 
of  boys  submit  to  the  boguera.  Supposing  him  to 
have  been  fifteen  when  he  saw  his  owm,  and  fresh 
bands  wTere  added  every  six  or  seven  years,  he  must 
have  been  about  forty  when  he  saw  the  fifth,  and  may 
have  attained  seventy-five  or  eighty  years,  which  is  no 
great  age  ;  but  it  seemed  so  to  them,  for  he  had  now 
doubled  the  age  for  superannuation  among  them.  It 
is  an  ingenious  plan  for  attaching  the  members  of  the 
tribe  to  the  chief's  family,  and  for  imparting  a  disci- 
pline which  renders  the  tribe  easy  of  command.  On 
their  return  to  the  town  from  attendance  on  the  cere- 
monies of  initiation,  a  prize  is  given  to  the  lad  wrho 
can  run  fastest,  the  article  being  placed  where  all  may 
see  the  winner  run  up  to  snatch  it.  They  are  then 
considered  men  (banona,  viri),  and  can  sit  among  the 
elders  in  the  kotla.  Formerly  they  were  only  boys 
(basimane,  pueri).  The  first  missionaries  set  their 
faces  against .  the  boguera,  on  account  of  its  conne<~ 
tion  with  heathenism,  and  the  fact  that  the  youtns 
learned  much  evil,  and  became  disobedient  to  their 
parents.  From  the  general  success  of  these  men,  it  is 
perhaps  better  that  younger  missionaries  should  tread 
in  their  footsteps;  for  so  much  evil  may  result  from 
breaking  dowm  the  authority  on  which,  to  those  who 
cannot  read,  the  whole  system  of  our  influence  appears 
to  rest,  that  innovators  ought  to  be  made  to  propose 
their  new  measures  as  the  Locrians  did  newT  laws — 
with  ropes  around  their  necks." 

For  a  fewr  days  after  leaving  the  Bamangwato  there 
were  good  supplies  of  water.  Then  followed  a  stretch 
oi   sixty  miles  over   a  desert    streaked  with  deposits 


1 1 2  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  UTH  A FRIi  A. 

of  salt;  and  for  nearly  a  month  the  privations  of 
the  caravan  were  very  great,  some  of  the  few  wells 
being  spoiled  by  rhinoceros,  while  in  other  places 
water  could  only  be  found  by  digging.  The  tropical 
rains  had  been  delayed  long  after  their  usual  time, 
and  it  was  not  until  the  end  of  February,  at  a  place 
called  Unku,  that  they  found  fresh  vegetation  and 
abundant  pools.  Here  the  forest  trees  were  all  in 
blossom,  and  full  of  birds,  the  plains  were  covered 
with  grass,  and  game  of  all  kinds  was  plenty. 

On  the  first  of  March  Livingstone  writes :  "  The 
thermometer  in  the  shade  generally  stood  at  98°  from 
1  to  3  p.  M.j  but  it  sank  as  low  as  65°  by  night,  so 
that  the  heat  was  by  no  means  exhausting.  At  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  in  the  sun,  the  thermometer 
marked  125°,  and  three  inches  below  it  138°.  The 
hand  cannot  be  held  on  the  ground,  and  even  the 
horny  soles  of  the  feet  of  the  natives  must  be  pro- 
tected by  sandals  of  hide;  yet  the  ants  were  busy 
working  on  it.  The  water  in  the  ponds  was  as  high 
as  100° ;  but  as  water  does  not  conduct  heat  readily 
downward,  delicionsly  cool  water  may  be  obtained  by 
any  one  walking  into  the  middle  and  lifting  up  the 
water  from  the  bottom  to  the  surface  with  his  hands. 

"  Proceeding  to  the  north,  from  Kama-kama,  we 
entered  into  dense  Mohonono  bush,  which  required 
the  constant  application  of  the  axe  by  three  of  our 
party  tor  two  days.  This  bush  has  fine  silvery  leaves, 
and  the  bark  has  a  sweet  taste.  The  elephant,  with 
his  usual  delicacy  of  taste,  feeds  much  on  it.  On 
emerging  into  the  plains  beyond,  we  found  a  number 
of  Bushmen,  who  afterward  proved  very  serviceable. 


THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.  H3 

The  rains  had  been  copious,  but  now  great  numbers 
of  pools  were  drying  up.  Lotus-plants  abounded  in 
them,  and  a  low,  sweet-scented  plant  covered  their 
banks. 

"  The  grass  here  was  so  tall  that  the  oxen  became 
uneasy,  and  one  night  the  sight  of  a  hyena  made 
them  rush  away  into  the  forest  to  the  east  of  us.  On 
rising  on  the  morning  of  the  19th,  I  found  that  my 
Bakwain  lad  had  run  away  with  them.  This  I  have 
often  seen  with  persons  of  this  tribe,  even  when  the 
cattle  are  startled  by  a  lion.  Away  go  the  young 
men  in  company  with  them,  and  dash  through  bush 
and  brake  for  miles,  till  they  think  the  panic  is  a  little 
subsided  ;  they  then  commence  whistling  to  the  cattle 
in  the  manner  they  do  when  milking  the  cows:  hav- 
ing calmed  them,  they  remain  as  a  guard  till  the 
morning.  The  men  generally  return  with  their  shins 
well  peeled  by  the  thorns.  Each  comrade  of  the 
Mopato  would  expect  his  fellow  to  act  thus,  without 
looking  for  any  other  reward  than  the  brief  praise  of 
the  chief.  Our  lad,  Kibopechoe,  had  gone  after  the 
Dxen,  but  had  lost  them  in  the  rush  through  the  flat, 
trackless  forest.  lie  remained  on  their  trail  all  the 
next  day  and  all  the  next  night.  On  Sunday  morn- 
•ng,  as  I  was  setting  off  in  search  of  him,  I  found  him 
ijear  the  wagon.  He  had  found  the  oxen  late  in  the 
afternoon  of  Saturday,  and  had  been  obliged  to  stand 
by  them  all  night.  It  was  wonderful  how  he  man- 
aged without  a  compass,  and  in  such  a  country,  to 
find  his  way  home  at  all,  bringing  about  forty  oxen 
with  him. 

"We  wished  to  avoid  the  tsetse  of  our  former 
8 


HJ.  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

path,  so  kept  a  course  on  the  magnetic  meridian  from 
Lurilopepe.  The  necessity  of  making  a  new  path 
much  increased  our  toil.  We  were,  however,  re- 
warded in  lat.  18°  with  a  sight  we  had  not  enjoyed 
the  year  before,  namely,  large  patches  of  grape-bearing 
vines.  There  they  stood  before  my  eyes;  but  the 
siffht  was  so  entirely  unexpected  that  I  stood  some 
time  gazing  at  the  clusters  of  grapes  with  which  they 
were  loaded,  with  no  more  thought  of  plucking  than 
if  I  had  been  beholding  them  in  a  dream.  The  Bush- 
men know  and  eat  them ;  but  they  are  not  well-fla- 
vored on  account  of  the  great  astringency  of  the 
seeds,  which  are  in  shape  and  size  like  split  peas. 
The  elephants  are  fond  of  the  fruit,  plant,  and  root 
alike. 

"Fleming  had  until  this  time  always  assisted  to 
drive  his  own  wagon,  but  about  the  end  of  March  he 
knocked  up,  as  well  as  his  people.  As  I  could  not 
drive  two  wagons,  I  shared  with  him  the  remaining 
water,  half  a  caskful,  and  went  on,  with  the  intention 
of  coining  back  for  him  as  soon  as  we  should  reach 
the  next  pool.  Heavy  rain  now  commenced ;  I  was 
employed  the  whole  day  cutting  down  trees,  and  every 
stroke  of  the  axe  brought  down  a  thick  shower  on  my 
hack,  which  in  the  hard  work  was  very  refreshing,  as 
the  water  found  its  way  down  into  my  shoes.  In  the 
evening  we  met  some  Bushmen,  who  volunteered  to 
show  us  a  pool ;  and  having  unyoked,  1  walked  some 
miles  in  search  of  it.  At  it  became  dark  they  showed 
their  politeness — a  quality  which  is  by  no  means 
confined  entirely  to  the  civilized — by  walking  in 
trout,  breaking  the  branches  which    hung   across   the 


THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.  115 

path,  and  pointing  out  the  fallen  trees.  On  returning 
to  the  wagon,  we  found  that  being  left  alone  had 
bron glit  out  some  of  Fleming's  energy,  for  he  had 
managed  to  come  up. 

"  As  the  water  in  this  pond  dried  up,  we  were  soon 
obliged  to  move  again.  One  of  the  Bushmen  took  out 
his  dice,  and,  after  throwing  them,  said  that  God  told 
him  to  go  home.  He  threw  again  in  order  to  show 
me  the  command,  but  the  opposite  result  followed ;  so 
he  remained  and  was  useful,  for  we  lost  the  oxen  again 
by  a  lion  driving  them  off  to  a  very  great  distance. 
The  lions  here  are  not  often  heard.  They  seem  to 
have  a  wholesome  dread  of  the  Bushmen,  who,  when 
they  observe  evidence  of  a  lion's  having  made  a  full 
meal,  follow  up  his  spoor  so  quietly  that  his  slumbers 
are  not  disturbed.  One  discharges  a  poisoned  arrow 
from  a  distance  of  only  a  few  feet,  while  his  companion 
simultaneously  throws  his  skin  cloak  on  the  beast's 
head.  The  sudden  surprise  makes  the  lion  lose  his 
presence  of  mind,  and  he  bounds  away  in  the  greatest 
confusion  and  terror.  Our  friends  here  showed  me 
the  poison  which  they  use  on  these  occasions.  It  is 
the  entrails  of  a  caterpillar  called  N'gwa,  half  an  inch 
long.  They  squeeze  out  these,  and  place  them  all 
around  the  bottom  of  the  barb,  and  allow  the  poison 
to  dry  in  the  sun.  They  are  very  careful  in  cleaning 
their  nails  after  working  with  it,  as  a  small  portion 
introduced  into  a  scratch  acts  like  morbid  matter  in  dis- 
section wounds.  The  agony  is  so  great  that  the  person 
cuts  himself,  calls  for  his  mother's  breast  as  if  he  were 
returned  in  idea  to  his  childhood  again,  or  flies  from 
human  habitations  a  raging  maniac.     The   effects  on 


1 16  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

the  lion  are  equally  terrible.  He  is  heard  moaning  in 
distress,  and  becomes  furious,  biting  the  trees  and 
ground  in  rage. 

"  As  we  went  north  the  country  became  very  lovely  ; 
many  new  trees  appeared ;  the  grass  was  green,  and 
often  higher  than  the  wagons  ;  the  vines  festooned  the 
trees,  among  which  appeared  the  real  banian  (Ficw 
Indica)  with  its  drop-shoots,  and  the  wild  date  and  pal- 
myra, and  several  other  trees  which  were  new  to  me ; 
the  hollows  contained  large  patches  of  water.  Next 
came  water-courses,  now  resembling  small  rivers, 
twenty  yards  broad  and  four  feet  deep.  The  further 
we  went,  the  broader  and  deeper  these  became ;  their 
bottoms  contained  great  numbers  of  deep  holes,  made 
by  elephants  wading  in  them  ;  in  these  the  oxen  floun- 
dered desperately,  so  that  our  wagon-pole  broke,  com- 
pelling ns  to  work  up  to  the  breast  in  water  for  three 
hours  and  a  half;  yet  I  suffered  no  harm. 

"  We  at  last  came  to  the  Sanshureh,  which  presented 
an  impassable  barrier,  so  we  drew  up  under  a  magnifi- 
cent baobab-tree,  (lat.  18°  4'  S.,  long.  24°  6'  E.),  and 
resolved  to  explore  the  river  for  a  ford.  The  great 
quanity  of  water  we  had  passed  through  Mas  part  of 
the  annual  inundation  of  the  Chobe ;  and  this,  which 
appeared  a  large,  deep  river,  filled  in  many  parts  with 
reeds,  and  having  hippopotami  in  it,  is  only  one  of  the 
branches  by  which  it  sends  its  superabundant  water  to 
the  south-east.  From  the  hill  N'gwa  a  ridge  of  higher 
land  runs  to  the  north-east,  and  bounds  its  course  in 
that  direction.  We,  being  ignorant  of  this,  were  in  the 
valley,  and  the  only  gap  in  the  whole  country  destitute 
of  tsetee.     In  company  with  the  Bushmen,  I  explored 


THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.  \\\ 

all  the  banks  of  the  Sanshnreh  to  the  west,  till  we  came 
into  tsetse  on  that  side.  AVe  waded  a  long  way  among 
the  reeds  in  water  breast  deep,  but  always  found  a 
broad,  deep  space  free  from  vegetation  and  unfordable. 
A  peculiar  kind  of  lichen,  which  grows  on  the  surface 
of  the  soil,  becomes  detached  and  floats  on  the  water, 
giving  out  a  very  disagreeable  odor,  like  sulphureted 
hydrogen,  in  some  of  these  stagnant  waters. 

"Next  morning,  by  climbing  the  highest  trees,  we 
could  see  a  fine,  large  sheet  of  water,  but  surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  the  same  impenetrable  belt  of  reeds. 
This  is  the  broad  part  of  the  River  Chobe,  and  is 
called  Zabesa.  Two  tree-covered  islands  seemed  to  be 
much  nearer  to  the  water  than  the  shore  on  which  we 
were,  so  we  made  an  attempt  to  get  to  them  first.  It 
was  not  the  reeds  alone  we  had  to  pass  through ;  a  pe- 
culiar serrated  grass,  which  at  certain  angles  cut  the 
hands  like  a  razor,  was  mingled  with  the  reed,  and  the 
climbing  convolvulus,  with  stalks  which  felt  as  strong 
as  whipcord,  bound  the  mass  together.  AVe  felt  like 
pigmies  in  it.  and  often  the  only  way  we  could  get  on 
was  by  both  of  us  leaning  against  a  part  and  bending 
it  down  till  we  could  stand  upon  it.  The  perspiration 
streamed  off  our  bodies,  and  as  the  sun  rose  high,  there 
being  r*o  ventilation  among  the  reeds,  the  heat  was 
stifling,  and  the  water,  which  was  up  to  the  knees,  felt 
agreeably  refreshing.  After  some  hours'  toil,  we 
reached  one  of  the  islands.  Here  we  met  an  old  friend, 
the  bramble-bush.  My  strong  moleskins  were  quite 
worn  through  at  the  knees,  and  the  leather  trowsers  of 
my  companion  were  torn  and  his  legs  bleeding.  Tear- 
ing my  handkerchief  in  two,  I  tied  the  pieces  around 


118  TRA  VEL  S  IN  SOU  Til  A  FRICA . 

my  knees,  and  then  encountered  another  difficulty. 
We  were  still  forty  or  fifty  yards  from  the  clear  water, 
but  now  we  were  opposed  by  great  masses  of  papyrus, 
which  are  like  palms  in  miniature,  eight  or  ten  feet 
high,  and  an  inch  and  a  half  in  diameter.  These  were 
lased  together  by  twining  convolvulus,  so  strongly  that 
the  weight  of  both  of  us  could  not  make  way  into  the 
clear  water.  At  last  we  fortunately  found  a  passage 
prepared  by  a  hippopotamus.  Eager  as  soon  as  we 
reached  the  island  to  look  along  the  vista  to  clear 
water,  I  stepped  in  and  found  it  took  me  at  once  up  to 
the  neck. 

"  Returning  nearly  worn  out,  we  proceeded  up  the 
bank  of  the  Chobe  till  we  came  to  the  point  of  depart- 
ure of  the  branch  Sanshureh ;  we  then  went  in  the 
opposite  direction,  or  down  the  Chobe,  though  from 
the  highest  trees  we  could  see  nothing  but  one  vast  ex- 
panse of  reed,  with  here  and  there  a  tree  on  the 
islands." 

Next  morning  they  started  again,  embarking  on  a 
light  pontoon  boat,  which  they  had  brought  with  them. 
"  We  paddled  on  from  midday  till  sunset.  There  was 
nothing  but  a  wall  of  reed  on  each  bank,  and  we 
saw  every  prospect  of  spending  a  supperless  night 
in  our  float;  but  just  as  the  short  twilight  of  these 
parts  was  commencing,  we  perceived,  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  village  ofMoremi,  one  of  the  Makololo, 
whose  acquaintance  I  had  made  on  our  former  visit, 
and  who  was  now  located  on  the  island  Mahonta  (lat. 
17°  58'  S.,  long.  24°  6'  E.).  The  villagers  looked  as 
we  may  suppose  people  do  who  see  a  ghost,  and  in  their 
figurative    way   of   speaking   said,  '  He   lias   dropped 


THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.  H9 

among  us  from  the  clouds,  jet  came  riding  on  the  back 
of  a  hippopotamus !  We  Makalolo  thought  no  one 
could  cross  the  Chobe  without  our  knowledge,  but  here 
he  drops  among  us  like  a  bird.' 

"  Next  day  we  returned  in  canoes  across  the  flooded 
lands,  and  found  that,  in  our  absence,  the  men  had  al- 
lowed the  cattle  to  wander  into  a  very  small  patch  of 
wood  to  the  west  containing  the  tsetse  /  this  careless- 
ness cost  me  ten  line  large  oxen.  After  remaining  a 
few  days,  some  of  the  head  men  of  the  Makololo 
came  down  from  Linyanti,  with  a  large  party  of  Ba- 
rotse,  to  take  us  across  the  river.  This  they  did  in 
fine  style,  swimming  and  diving  among  the  oxen  more 
like  alligators  than  men,  and  taking  the  wagons  to 
pieces,  and  carrying  them  across  on  a  number  of  canoes 
lashed  together.  We  were  now  among  friends;  so 
going  about  thirty  miles  to  the  north,  in  order  to  avoid 
the  still  flooded  lands  on  the  north  of  the  Chobe,  we 
turned  westward  toward  Linyanti  (lat.  18°  17 f  S., 
long.  23°  50'  E.),  where  wTe  arrived  on  the  23d  of  May, 
1853.  This  is  the  capital  town  of  the  Makololo, 
and  only  a  short  distance  from  our  wagon-stand  of 
1851. 

"  The  whole  population  of  Linyanti,  numbering  be- 
tween six  and  seven  thousand  souls,  turned  out  en 
masse  to  see  the  wagons  in  motion.  They  had  never 
witnessed  the  phenomenon  before,  we  having  on  the 
former  occasion  departed  by  night.  Sekeletu,  now  in 
power,  received  us  in  what  is  considered  royal  style, 
setting  before  us  a  great  number  of  pots  of  boyaloa, 
the  beer  of  the  country.  These  were  brought  by 
women,  and  each  bearer  takes  a  good  draught  of  the 


120  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

beer  when  she  sets  it  down,  by  way  of  Hasting'  to 
show  that  there  is  no  poison. 

"The  court  herald,  an  old  man  who  occupied  the 
post  also  in  Sebituane's  time,  stood  up,  and  after  some 
antics,  such  as  leaping  and  shouting  at  the  top  of  his 
voice,  roared  out  some  adulatory  sentences,  as,  '  Don't  I 
see  the  white  man  ?  Don't  I  see  the  comrade  of  Sebit- 
uane  ?  Don't  I  see  the  lather  of  Sekeletu  ? ' — '  We  want 
sleep.' — '  Give  your  son  sleep,  my  lord'  etc.,  etc.  The 
perquisites  of  this  man  are  the  heads  of  all  the  cattle 
slaughtered  by  the  chief,  and  he  even  takes  a  share  of 
the  tribute  before  it  is  distributed  and  taken  out  of  the 
kotla.  He  is  expected  to  utter  all  the  proclamations, 
call  assemblies,  keep  the  kotla  clean,  and  the  fire  burn- 
ing every  evening,  and  when  a  person  is  executed  in 
public  he  drags  away  the  body. 

u  I  found  Sekeletu,  a  young  man  of  eighteen  years 
of  age,  of  that  dark  yellow  or  coftee-and-milk  color,  of 
which  the  Makololo  are  so  proud,  because  it  distin- 
guishes them  considerably  from  the  black  tribes  on  the 
rivers.  He  is  about  live  feet  seven  in  height,  and 
neither  so  good  looking  nor  of  so  much  ability  as  his 
father  was,  but  is  equally  friendly  to  the  English. 
Sebituane  installed  his  daughter  Mamochisdne  into  the 
chieftainship  long  before  his  death,  but,  with  all  hi* 
•icuteness,  the  idea  of  her  having  a  husband  who  should 
not  be  hei  lord  did  not  seem  to  enter  his  mind.  Ho 
wished  to  make  her  his  successor,  probably  in  imita- 
tion of  some  of  the  negro  tribes  with  whom  he  ha<J 
come  in  contact ;  but,  being  of  the  Bechuana  race,  he 
could  not  look  upon  the  husband  except  as  the  wom- 
an's lord ;  so  he  told  her  all  the  men  were  hers — she 


THE  MA  KOL  OL  0  CO  UN  TR  V.  121 

might  take  any  one,  but  ought  to  keep  n<me.  In  iact, 
he  thought  ohe  might  do  with  the  men  what  lie  could 
do  with  the  women  ;  but  these  men  had  other  wives; 
and,  according  to  a  saying  in  the  country, '  the  tongues 
of  women  cannot  be  governed,'  they  made  her  misera- 
ble by  their  remarks.  One  man  whom  she  chose  was 
even  called  her  wife,  and  her  son,  the  child  of  Mamo- 
chisaue's  wife ;  but  the  arrangement  was  so  distasteful 
to  Mamochisane  herself  that,  as  soon  as  Sebituane  died, 
she  said  she  never  would  consent  to  govern  the  Mako- 
lolo  so  long  as  she  had  a  brother  living.  Sekeletu,  be- 
ing afraid  of  another  member  of  the  family,  Mpepe, 
who  had  pretensions  to  the  chieftainship,  urged  his 
sister  strongly  to  remain  as  she  had  always  been,  and 
allow  him  to  support  her  authority  by  leading  the 
Makololo  when  they  went  forth  to  war.  Three  days 
were  spent  in  public  discussion  on  the  point.  Mpepe 
insinuated  that  Sekeletu  was  not  the  lawful  son  of 
Sebituane,  on  account  of  his  mother  having  been  the 
wife  of  another  chief  before  her  marriage  with  Sebit- 
uane; Mamochisane  however  upheld  Sekeletu's  claims, 
and  at  last  stood  up  in  the  assembly  and  addressed  him 
with  <\  womanly  gush  of  tears:  'I  have  been  a  chief 
only  because  my  father  wished  it.  I  always  would 
have  preferred  to  be  married  and  have  a  family  like 
other  women.  You,  Sekeletu,  must  be  chief,  and 
build  up  your  father's  house.'  This  wq.s  a  death-blow 
to  the  hopes  of  Mpepe." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

TOURNEY    ACROSS 
II. — VOYAGE    UP    THE     ZAMBESI    RIVER. 

*'  "A  /TY  object,"  Livingstone  continues,  "  being  first 
-IVJL  of  all  to  examine  the  country  for  a  healthy 
locality,  before  attempting  to  make  a  path  to  either 
the  east  or  west  coast,  I  proposed  to  Sekeletu  the 
plan  of  ascending  the  great  river  which  we  had  dis- 
covered in  1851.  He  volunteered  to  accompany  me, 
and,  when  we  got  about  sixty  miles  away,  on  the 
road  to  Sesheke,  we  encountered  Mpepe.  The  Ma- 
kololo,  though  possessing  abundance  of  cattle,  had 
never  attempted  to  ride  oxen  until  I  advised  it  in 
1851.  The  Bechuanas  generally  were  in  the  same 
condition,  until  Europeans  came  among  them  and 
imparted  the  idea  of  riding.  All  their  journeys  pre- 
viously were  performed  on  foot.  Sekeletu  and  his 
companions  were  mounted  on  oxen,  though,  having 
neither  saddle  nor  bridle,  they  were  perpetually  falling 
oil'.  Mpepe,  armed  with  his  little  axe,  came  along  a 
path  parallel  to,  but  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant  from, 
that  of  our  party,  and,  when  he  saw  Sekeletu,  he  ran 
with  all  his  might  toward  us;  but  Sekeletu,  being  on 
his  guard,  galloped  off  to  an  adjacent  village.  He 
then  withdrew  somewhere  till  all  our  party  came  up. 
Mpepe  had  given   his  own    party  to  understand   that 


VOYAGE  UP  THE  ZAMBESI  RIVER.  123 

he  would  cut  down  Sekeletu,  either  on  their  first 
meeting,  or  at  the  breaking  up  of  their  first  conference. 
The  former  intention  having  been  thus  frustrated,  he 
then  determined  to  effect  his  purpose  after  their  first 
interview.  I  happened  to  sit  down  between  the  two 
in  the  hut  wThere  they  met.  Being  tired  with  riding 
all  day  in  the  sun,  I  soon  asked  Sekeletu  where  I 
should  sleep,  and  he  replied,  '  Come,  I  will  show  you.' 
As  we  rose  together,  I  unconsciously  covered  Seke- 
letu's  body  with  mine,  and  saved  him  from  the  blow 
of  the  assassin.  I  knew  nothing  of  the  plot,  but 
remarked  that  all  Mpepe's  men  kept  hold  of  their 
arms,  even  after  we  had  sat  down — a  thing  quite 
unusual  in  the  presence  of  a  chief;  and  when  Sekeletu 
showed  me  the  hut  in  which  I  was  to  spend  the  night, 
he  said  to  me,  '  That  man  wishes  to  kill  me.'  I 
afterward  learned  that  some  of  Mpepe's  attendants 
had  divulged  the  secret ;  and,  bearing  in  mind  his 
father's  instructions,  Sekeletu  put  Mpepe  to  death  that 
night.  It  was  managed  so  quietly,  that,  although  I 
was  sleeping  within  a  few  yards  of  the  scene,  I  knew 
nothing  of  it  till  the  next  day.  Noknane  went  to 
the  fire,  at  which  Mpepe  sat,  with  a  handful  of  snuff, 
as  if  he  were  about  to  sit  down  and  regale  himself 
therewith.  Mpepe  said  to  him,  'Nsepisa'  (cause  me 
to  take  a  pinch) ;  and,  as  he  held  out  his  hand,  ]STo- 
kuane  caught  hold  of  it,  while  another  man  seized  the 
other  hand,  and,  leading  him  out  a  mile,  speared  him. 
This  is  the  common  mode  of  executing  criminals. 
They  are  not  allowed  to  speak ;  though  on  one  occa- 
sion a  man,  feeling  his  wrist  held  too  tightly,  said, 
'Hold    me    gently,  can't  you?  you  will  soon  be   led  , 


124:  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

out  in  the  same  way  yourselves.'  Mpepe's  men  fled 
to  the  Barotse,  and,  it  being  unadvisable  for  us  to  go 
thither  during  the  commotion  which  followed  on 
Mpepe's  death,  we  returned  to  Linyanti. 

"  Soon  after  our  arrival,  Sekeletu  took  me  aside, 
and  pressed  me  to  mention  those  things  I  liked  best 
and  hoped  to  get  from  him.  Anything,  either  in  or 
out  of  his  town,  should  be  freely  given  if  I  would 
only  mention  it.  I  explained  to  him  that  my  object 
was  to  elevate  him  and  his  people  to  be  Christians ; 
but  he  replied  he  did  not  wish  to  learn  to  read  the 
Book,  for  he  was  afraid  'it  might  change  his  heart, 
and  make  him  content  with  only  one  wife,  like  Se- 
chele.'  It  was  of  little  use  to  urge  that  the  change 
of  heart  implied  a  contentment  with  one  wife  equal 
to  his  present  complacency  in  polygamy.  Such  a 
preference  after  the  change  of  mind  could  not  now  be 
understood  by  him  any  more  than  the  real,  unmistak- 
able pleasure  of  religious  services  can  by  those  who 
have  not  experienced  what  is  known  by  the  term  the 
'new  heart.'  I  assured  him  that  nothing  was  ex- 
pected but  by  his  own  voluntary  decision.  '  No,  no ; 
he  wanted  always  to  have  five  wives  at  least.'  I 
liked  the  frankness  of  Sekeletu,  for  nothing  is  so  wea- 
rying to  the  spirit  as  talking  to  those  who  agree  with 
everything  advanced. 

As  I  had  declined  to  name  anything  as  a  pres- 
ent from  Skeleletu,  except  a  canoe  to  take  me  up  the 
river,  he  brought  ten  line  elephants'  tusks  and  laid 
them  down  beside  niv  wagon.  He  would  take  no 
denial,  though  I  told  him  I  should  prefer  to  see  him 
trading  w'.tli  Fleming,  a  man  of  color  from  the  West 


VOYAGE  UP  THE  ZAMBESI  RIVER.  125 

Indies,  who  had  come  for  the  purpose.  I  had,  dur- 
ing the  eleven  years  of  my  previous  course,  invaria- 
bly abstained  from  taking  presents  of  ivory  from  an 
idea  that  a  religious  instructor  degraded  himself  by 
accepting  gifts  from  those  whose  spiritual  welfare  he 
professed  to  seek.  My  precedence  of  all  traders  in 
the  line  of  discovery  put  me  often  in  the  way  of  very 
handsome  offers,  but  I  always  advised  the  donors  to 
sell  their  ivory  to  traders,  who  would  be  sure  to 
follow. 

"  I  had  brought  with  me  as  presents  an  improved 
breed  of  goats,  fowls,  and  a  pair  of  cats.  A  superior 
bull  was  brought,  also  as  a  gift  to  Sekeletu,  but  I  was 
compelled  to  leave  it  on  account  of  its  having  become 
foot-sore.  As  the  Makololo  are  very  fond  of  improv- 
ing the  breed  of  their  domestic  animals,  they  were 
much  pleased  with  my  selection.  I  endeavored  to 
bring  the  bull,  in  performance  of  a  promise  made  to 
Sebituane  before  he  died.  Admiring  a  calf  which  we 
had  with  us,  he  proposed  to  give  me  a  cow  for  it, 
which  in  the  native  estimation  was  offering  three 
times  its  value.  I  presented  it  to  him  at  once,  and 
promised  to  bring  him  another  and  a  better  one. 
Sekeletu  was  much  gratified  by  my  attempt  to  keep 
my  word  given  to  his  father. 

"  They  have  two  breeds  of  cattle  among  them.  One, 
called  the  Batoka,  because  captured  from  that  tribe,  is 
of  diminutive  size,  but  very  beautiful,  and  closely  resem- 
bles the  short-horns  of  our  own  country.  All  are  re- 
markably fond  of  their  cattle,  and  spend  much  time  in 
ornamenting  and  adorning  them.  Some  are  branded 
all  over  with  a  hot  knife,  so  as  to  cause  a  permanent 


126  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

discoloration  of  the  hair,  in  lines  like  the  bands  on  the 
hide  of  a  zebra.     Pieces  of  skin  two  or  three  inches 
long  and  broad  are  detached,  and  allowed  to  heal  in  a 
dependent  position  around  the  head — a  strange  style  of 
ornament ;  indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  in  what 
their  notion   of  beauty   consists.     The  women   have 
somewhat  the  same  ideas  with  ourselves  of  what  con- 
stitutes comeliness.     They  came  frequently  and  asked 
for  the  looking-glass ;  and  the  remarks  they  made — 
while  I  was  engaged  in  reading,  and  apparently  not 
attending  to  them — on  first  seeing  themselves  therein, 
were  amusingly  ridiculous.      '  Is  that  me  ? '     '  What 
a  big  mouth  I  have  ! '     '  My  ears  are  as  big  as  pump- 
kin-leaves.'    '  I  have  no  chin  at  all.'     Or,  '  I  would 
have  been  pretty,  but  am  spoiled  by  these  high  cheek- 
bones.'     '  See  how  my  head   shoots  up  in    the  mid- 
dle ! '  laughing  vociferously  all  the  time  at  their  own 
jokes.     They   readily   perceived  any   defect  in   each 
other,  and  give  nicknames  accordingly.    One  man  came 
alone  to  have  a  quiet  gaze  at  his  own  features  once, 
when   he  thought   I  was  asleep ;    after  twisting  his 
mouth  about  in  various  directions,  he  remarked  to  him- 
self, 'People  say  I  am  ugly,  and  how  very  ugly  I  am 
indeed ! ' 

"  The  Makololo  women  work  but  little.  Indeed,  the 
families  of  that  nation  are  spread  over  the  country,  one 
or  two  only  in  each  village,  as  the  lords  of  the  land. 
They  all  have  lordship  over  great  numbers  of  subject  ed 
tribes,  who  pass  by  the  general  name  Makalaka,  and 
who  are  forced  to  render  certain  services,  and  to  aid  in 
tilling  the  soil ;  but  each  has  his  own  land  under  culti 
vation,  and  otherwise  lives  nearly  independent.     They 


VOYAGE   UP  THE  ZAMBESI  RIVER.  127 

are  proud  to  be  called  Makololo,  but  the  other  term  is 
often  used  in  reproach,  as  betokening  inferiority.  This 
species  of  servitude  may  be  termed  serfdom,  as  it  has  to 
be  rendered  in  consequence  of  subjection  by  force  of 
arms,  but  it  is  necessarily  very  mild.  It  is  so  easy  for 
any  one  who  is  unkindly  treated  to  make  his  escape  to 
other  tribes,  that  the  Makololo  are  compelled  to  treat 
them,  to  a  great  extent,  rather  as  children  than  slaves. 
Some  masters,  who  fail  from  defect  of  temper  or  dispo- 
sition to  secure  the  affections  of  the  conquered  people, 
frequently  find  themselves  left  without  a  single  ser- 
vant, in  consequence  of  the  absence  and  impossibility 
of  enforcing  a  fugitive-slave  law,  and  the  readiness  with 
which  those  who  are  themselves  subjected  assist  the 
fugitives  across  the  rivers  in  canoes.  The  Makololo 
ladies  are  liberal  in  their  presents  of  milk  and  other 
food,  and  seldom  require  to  labor,  except  in  the  way  of 
beautifying  their  own  huts  and  court-yards.  They 
drink  large  quantities  of  boyaloa  or  o-alo,  the  buza  of 
the  Arabs,  which,  being  made  of  the  grain  called  holcus 
sorghum  or  '  durasaifi,'  in  a  minute  state  of  subdivi- 
sion, is  very  nutritious,  and  gives  that  plumpness  of 
form  which  is  considered  beautiful.  They  dislike  being 
seen  at  their  potations  by  persons  of  the  opposite  sex. 
They  cut  their  woolly  hair  quite  short,  and  delight  in 
having  the  whole  person  shining  with  butter.  Their 
dress  is  a  kilt  reaching  to  the  knees ;  its  material  is  ox- 
hide, made  as  soft  as  cloth.  It  is  not  ungraceful.  A 
6oft  skin  mantle  is  thrown  across  the  shoulders  when 
the  lady  is  unemployed,  but  when  engaged  in  any  sort 
of  labor  she  throws  this  aside,  and  works  in  the  kilt 
(done.     The  ornaments  most  coveted  are  large  brass 


1  2 8  TRA  VEL S  IN  SOU TH  A FRICA . 

anklets  as  thick  as  the  little  finger,  and  armlets  of  both 
brass  and  ivory,  the  latter  often  an  inch  broad.  The 
rings  are  so  heavy  that  the  ankles  are  often  blistered 
by  the  weight  pressing  down  ;  but  it  is  the  fashion, 
and  is  borne  as  magnanimously  as  tight  lacing  and  tight 
shoes  among  ourselves.  Strings  of  beads  are  hung 
around  the  neck,  and  the  fashionable  colors  being  light 
green  and  pink,  a  trader  could  get  almost  anything  he 
chose  for  beads  of  these  colors. 

"At  our  public  religious  services  in  the  kotla,  the 
Makololo  women  always  behaved  with  decorum  from 
the  first,  except  at  the  conclusion  of  the  prayer.  When 
all  knelt  down,  many  of  those  who  had  children,  in 
following  the  example  of  the  rest,  bent  over  their  little 
ones;  the  children,  in  terror  of  being  crushed  to  death, 
set  up  a  simultaneous  yell,  which  so  tickled  the  whole 
assembly  that  there  was  often  a  subdued  titter,  to  be 
turned  into  a  hearty  laugh  as  soon  as  they  heard 
Amen.  This  was  not  so  difficult  to  overcome  in  them 
as  similar  peccadilloes  were  in  the  case  of  the  women 
farther  south.  Long  after  we  had  settled  at  Mabotsa, 
when  preaching  on  the  most  solemn  subjects,  a  woman 
might  be  observed  to  look  round,  and,  seeing  a  neigh- 
bor seated  on  her  dress,  give  her  a  hunch  with  the 
elbow  to  make  her  move  oft';  the  other  would  return 
it  with  interest,  and  perhaps  the  remark,  '  Take  the 
nasty  thing  away,  will  you  ? '  Then  three  or  four 
would  begin  to  hustle  the  h'rst  offenders,  and  the  men 
to  swear  at  them  all,  by  way  of  enforcing  silelKv.', 

On  the  30th  of  May,  Livingstone  was  nttacked 
with  fever  at  Ltnyanti,  and  more  than  three  weeks 
elapsed  before  he  was  in  a  condition  to  travel.     By 


VOYAGE   UP  THE  ZAMBESI  RIVER.  129 

the  use  of  the  hydropathic  "  wet  sheet, "  and  doses  of 
quinine,  he  was  finally  restored  to  a  tolerable  condi- 
tion, and  set  out  on  a  voyage  up  the  Zambesi,  from 
the  town  of  Sesheke  (in  Lat.  17°  31 '  S.),  to  Naliele, 
the  capital  of  the  Barotse  country  (in  Lat.  15°  24 '  S.), 
at  that  time  subject  to  the  Makololo  chief. 

"  I  went,"  he  says,  "  in  company  with  Sekeletu 
and  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  attendants.  We  had 
most  of  the  young  men  with  us,  and  many  of  the 
under-chiefs  besides.  The  country  between  Linyanti 
and  Sesheke  is  perfectly  flat,  except  patches  elevated 
only  a  few  feet  above  the  surrounding  level.  There 
are  also  many  mounds  where  the  gigantic  ant-hills  of 
the  country  have  been  situated  or  still  appear ;  these 
mounds  are  evidently  the  work  of  termites.  No  one 
who  has  not  seen  their  gigantic  structures  can  fancy 
the  industry  of  these  little  laborers ;  they  seem  to  im- 
part fertility  to  the  soil  which  has  once  passed  through 
their  mouths,  for  the  Makololo  find  the  sides  of  ant- 
hills the  choice  spots  for  rearing  early  maize,  tobacco, 
or  anything  on  which  they  wish  to  bestow  especial 
care.  In  the  parts  through  which  we  passed  the 
mounds  are  generally  covered  with  masses  of  wild 
date  trees ;  the  fruit  is  small,  and  no  tree  is  allowed  to 
stand  long,  for,  having  abundance  of  food,  the  Mako- 
lolo have  no  inclination  to  preserve  wild  fruit  trees ; 
accordingly,  when  a  date  shoots  up  to  seed,  as  soon  as 
the  fruit  is  ripe  they  cut  down  the  tree  rather  than  be 
at  the  trouble  of  climbing  it.  The  other  parts  of  the 
more  elevated  land  have  the  camel-thorn,  white-thorned 
mimosa,  and  baobabs. 

"  When  we  arrived  at  any  village  the  women  all 


130  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

turned  out  to  lulliloo  their  chief.  Their  shrill  voices, 
to  which  they  give  a  tremulous  sound  by  a  quick 
motion  of  the  tongue,  peal  forth,  '  Great  lion  ! '  i  Great 
chief! '  '  Sleep,  my  lord  !'  etc.  The  men  utter  similar 
salutations;  and  Sekeletu  receives  all  with  becoming 
indifference.  After  a  few  minutes'  conversation  and 
1  telling  the  news,  the  head  man  of  the  village,  who  is 
almost  always  a  Makololo,  rises,  and  brings  forth  a  num- 
ber of  large  pots  of  beer.  Calabashes,  being  used  as 
drinking  cups,  are  handed  round,  and  as  many  as  can 
partake  of  the  beverage  do  so,  grasping  the  vessels  so 
eagerly  that  they  are  in  danger  of  being  broken. 

"  They  bring  forth  also  large  pots  and  bowls  of 
thick  milk;  some  contain  six  or  eight  gallons;  and 
each  of  these,  as  well  as  of  the  beer,  is  given  to  a  par- 
ticular person,  who  has  the  power  to  divide  it  with 
whom  he  pleases.  The  head  man  of  any  section  of  the 
tribe  is  generally  selected  for  this  office.  Spoons  not 
being  generally  in  fashion,  the  milk  is  conveyed  to  the 
mouth  with  the  hand.  I  often  presented  my  friends 
with  iron  spoons,  and  it  was  curious  to  observe  how  the 
habit  of  hand-eating  prevailed,  though  they  were 
delighted  with  the  spoons.  They  lifted  out  a  little 
with  the  utensil,  then  put  it  on  the  left  hand,  and  ate 
it  out  of  that. 

"Sekeletu  and  I  had  each  a  little  gipsy-tent  in 
which  to  sleep.  The  Makololo  huts  are  generally 
clean,  while  those  of  the  Makalaka  are  infested  with 
vermin.  The  cleanliness  of  the  former  is  owing  to  the 
habit  of  frequently  smearing  the  floors  with  a  plaster 
composed  of  COW-dung  and  earth.  If  we  slept  in  the 
tent  in  some  villages,  the  mice  ran  over  our  faces  and 


VOYAGE   UP   THE  ZAMBESI  RIVER.  131 

disturbed  our  sleep,  or  hungry  prowling  dogs  would  eat 
our  shoes  and  leave  only  the  soles.  When  they  were 
guilty  of  this  and  other  misdemeanors,  we  got  the  loan 
of  a  hut.  The  best  sort  of  Makololo  huts  consist  of 
three  circular  walls;  with  small  holes  as  doors,  each 
similar  to  that  in  a  dog-house ;  and  it  is  necessary  to 
bend  down  the  body  to  get  in,  even  when  on  all-fours. 
The  roof  is  formed  of  reeds  or  straight  sticks,  in  shape 
like  a  Chinaman's  hat,  bound  firmly  together  with 
circular  bands,  which  are  lashed  with  the  strong  inner 
bark  of  the  mimosa-tree.  "When  all  prepared  except 
the  thatch,  it  is  lifted  on  to  the  circular  wall,  the  rim 
resting  on  a  circle  of  poles,  between  each  of  which  the 
third  wall  is  built.  The  roof  is  thatched  with  fine 
grass,  and  sewed  with  the  same  material  as  the  lash- 
ings ;  and,  as  it  projects  far  beyond  the  walls,  and 
reaches  within  four  feet  of  the  ground,  the  shade  is  the 
best  to  be  found  in  the  country.  These  huts  are  very 
cool  in  the  hottest  day,  but  are  close  and  deficient  in 
ventilation  by  night. 

"  Our  course  at  this  time  led  us  to  a  part  above 
Sesheke,  called  Katonga,  where  there  is  a  village  be- 
longing to  a  Bashubia  man  named  Sekhosi.  The 
river  here  is  somewhat  broader  than  at  Sesheke,  and 
certainly  not  less  than  six  hundred  yards.  It  flows 
somewhat  slowly  in  the  first  part  of  its  eastern  course. 
When  the  canoes  came  from  Sekhosi  to  take  us  over, 
one  of  the  comrades  of  Sebituane  rose,  and,  looking  to 
Sekeletu,  called  out,  '  The  elders  of  a  host  always  take 
the  lead  in  an  attack.'  This  was  understood  at  once ; 
and  Sekeletu,  with  all  the  young  men,  were  obliged 
to  give  the  elders  the  precedence,  and  remain  on  the 


132  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

southern  bank  and  see  that  all  went  orderly  into  the 
canoes.  It  took  a  considerable  time  to  ferry  over  the 
whole  of  our  large  party,  as,  even  with  quick  paddling, 
from  six  to  eight  minutes  were  spent  in  the  mere 
passage  from  bank  to  bank. 

"Several  days  were  spent  in  collecting  canoes 
from  different  villages  on  the  river,  which  we  now 
learned  is  called  by  the  whole  of  the  Barotse  the  Li- 
ambai  or  Leeambye.  This  we  could  not  ascertain  on 
our  first  visit,  and,  consequently,  called  the  river  after 
tie  town  'Sesheke.'  This  term  Sesheke  means 
'  white  sand-banks,'  many  of  which  exist  at  this  part. 
There  is  another  village  in  the  valley  of  the  Barotse 
likewise  called  Sesheke,  and  for  the  same  reason ;  but 
the  term  Leeambye  means  '  the  large  river,'  or  the 
river  par  excellence.  Luambeji,  Luambesi,  Ambezi, 
Ojimbesi,  and  Zambesi,  etc.,  are  names  applied  to  it 
at  different  parts  of  its  course,  according  to  the  dialect 
spoken,  and  all  possess  a  similar  signification,  and  ex- 
press the  native  idea  of  this  magnificent  stream  being 
the  main  drain  of  the  country. 

"In  order  to  assist  in  the  support  of  our  large 
party,  and  at  the  same  time  to  see  the  adjacent  coun- 
try, I  went  several  times  during  our  stay  to  the 
north  of  the  village  for  game.  The  country  is  cov- 
ered with  clumps  of  beautiful  trees,  among  which 
fine  open  glades  stretch  away  in  every  direction; 
when  the  river  is  in  flood  these  are  inundated,  but 
the  tree-covered  elevated  spots  are  much  more  nu- 
merous here  than  in  the  country  between  the  Ohobe 
and  the  Leeambye.  The  soil  is  dark  loam,  as  it  is 
everywhere  on  spots  reached  by  the  inundation,  while 


VOYAGE  UP   THE  ZAMBESI  RIVER.  133 

among  the  trees  it  is  sandy,  and  not  covered  so  densely 
with  grass  as  elsewhere. 

"  Having  at  last  procured  a  sufficient  number  of 
canoes,  we  began  to  ascend  the  river.  I  had  the  choice 
of  the  whole  fleet,  and  selected  the  best,  though  not 
the  largest ;  it  was  thirty-four  feet  long  by  twenty 
inches  wide.  I  had  six  paddlers,  and  the  larger  canoe 
of  Sekeletu  had  ten.  They  stand  upright,  and  keep 
the  stroke  with  great  precision,  though  they  change 
from  side  to  side  as  the  course  demands.  The  men 
at  the  head  and  stern  are  selected  from  the  strongest 
and  most  expert  of  the  whole.  The  canoes,  being 
flat-bottomed,  can  go  into  very  shallow  water ;  and 
whenever  the  men  can  feel  the  bottom^  they  use  the 
paddles,  which  are  about  eight  feet  long,  as  poles  to 
punt  with.  Our  fleet  consisted  of  thirty-three  canoes, 
and  about  one  hundred  and  sixty  men.  It  was  beau- 
tiful to  see  them  skimming  along  so  quickly,  and  keep- 
ing the  time  so  well.  On  land  the  Makalaka  fear  the 
Makololo  ;  on  water  the  Makololo  fear  them,  and  can- 
not prevent  them  from  racing  with  each  other,  dash- 
ing along  at  the  top  of  their  speed,  and  placing  their 
masters'  lives  in  danger.  In  the  event  of  a  capsize, 
many  of  the  Makololo  would  sink  like  stones.  A 
case  of  this  kind  happened  on  the'  first  day  of 
our  voyage  up.  The  wind,  blowing  generally  from 
the  east,  raises  very  large  waves  on  the  Leeambye. 
An  old  doctor  of  the  Makololo  had  his  canoe  filled 
by  one  of  these  waves,  and,  being  unable  to  swim, 
was  lost.  The  Barotse  who  were  in  the  canoe  with 
him  saved  themselves  by  swimming,  and  were  afraid 
of  being  punished  with  death  in  the  evening  for  not 


134  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

saving  the  doctor  as  well.  Had  he  been  a  man  of 
more  influence,  they  certainly  would  have  suffered 
death. 

"We  proceeded  rapidly  up  the  river,  and  I  felt 
the  pleasure  of  looking  on  lands  which  had  never 
been  seen  by  a  European  before.  The  river  is,  indeed, 
a  magnificent  one,  often  more  than  a  mile  broad,  and 
adorned  with  many  islands  of  from  three  to  five  miles 
in  length.  Both  islands  and  banks  are  covered  with 
forest,  and  most  of  the  trees  on  the  brink  of  the 
water  send  down  roots  from  their  branches  like  the 
banian,  or  Ficus  Indica.  The  islands  at  a  little  dis- 
tance seem  great  rounded  masses  of  sylvan  vegetation 
reclining  on  the  bosom  of  the  glorious  stream.  The 
beauty  of  the  scenery  of  some  of  the  islands  is  greatly 
increased  by  the  date-palm,  with  its  gracefully  curved 
fronds  and  refreshing  light  green  color,  near  the  bot- 
tom of  the  picture;  and  the  lofty  palmyra  towering 
far  above,  and  casting  its  feathery  foliage  against  a 
cloudless  sky.  It  being  winter,  we  had  the  strange 
coloring  on  the  banks  which  many  parts  of  the  Af- 
rican landscape  assume.  The  country  adjacent  to  the 
river  is  rocky  and  undulating,  abounding  in  elephants 
and  all  other  large  game,  except  leches  and  nakongs, 
which  seem  generally  to  avoid  stony  ground.  The 
soil  is  of  a  reddish  color,  and  very  fertile,  as  is  at- 
tested by  the  great  quantity  of  grain  raised  annually 
by  the  Banyeti.  A  great  many  villages  of  this  pool 
and  very  industrious  people  are  situated  on  both  banks 
of  the  river:  they  are  expert  hunters  of  the  hippo- 
potami and  other  animals,  and  very  proficient  in  the 
manufacture  of  articles  of  wood  and  iron.     The  whole 


VOYAGE   UP  THE  ZAMBESI  RIVER.  135 

of  this  part  of  the  country  being  infested  with  the 
tsetse,  they  are  unable  to  rear  domestic  animals.  This 
may  have  led  to  their  skill  in  handicraft  works.  Some 
make  large  wooden  vessels  with  very  neat  lids,  and 
wooden  bowls  of  all  sizes ;  and  since  the  idea  of  sitting 
on  stools  has  entered  the  Makololo  mind,  they  have 
shown  great  taste  in  the  different  forms  given  to  the 
legs  of  these  pieces  of  furniture. 

"  From  the  bend  up  to  the  north,  called  Katima- 
molelo  (I  quenched  fire),  the  bed  of  the  river  is  rocky, 
and  the  stream  runs  fast,  forming  a  succession  of  rapids 
and  cataracts,  which  prevent  continuous  navigation 
when  the  water  is  low.  The  rapids  are  not  visible 
when  the  river  is  full,  but  the  cataracts  of  Nambwe, 
Bombwe,  and  Kale  must  always  be  dangerous.  The 
fall  at  each  of  these  is  between  four  and  six  feet.  But 
the  falls  of  Gonye  present  a  much  more  serious  obstacle. 
There  we  were  obliged  to  take  the  canoes  out  of  the 
water,  and  carry  them  more  than  a  mile  by  land.  The 
fall  is  about  thirty  feet.  The  main  body  of  water, 
which  comes  over  the  ledge  of  rock  when  the  river  is 
low,  is  collected  into  a  space  seventy  or  eighty  yards 
wide  before  it  takes  the  leap,  and,  a  mass  of  rock  being 
thrust  forward  against  the  roaring  torrent,  a  loud 
sound  is  produced.  Tradition  reports  the  destruction 
in  this  place  of  two  hippopotamus-hunters,  who,  over- 
eager  in  the  pursuit  of  a  wounded  animal,  were,  with 
their  intended  prey,  drawn  down  into  the  frightful 
gulf. 

"As  we  passed  up  the  river,  the  different  villages  of 
Banyeti  turned  out  to  present  Sekeletu  with  food  and 
skins,  as  their  tribute.     One  large  village  is  placed  at 


136  TRA  VEL S  IN  SO  U  I II  A  FRICA. 

Gonye,  the  inhabitants  of  which  are  required  to  assist 
the  Makololo  to  carry  their  canoes  past  the  falls.  The 
tsetse  here  lighted  on  us  even  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream.  This  we  crossed  repeatedly,  in  order  to  make 
short  cuts  at  bends  of  the  river.  The  course  is,  how- 
ever, remarkably  straight  among  the  rocks ;  and  hero 
the  river  is  shallow,  on  account  of  the  great  breadth 
of  surface  which  it  covers.  When  we  came  to  about 
16°  16'  S.  latitude,  the  high  wooded  banks  seemed  to 
leave  the  river,  and  no  more  tsetse  appeared.  Viewed 
from  the  flat,  reedy  basin  in  which  the  river  then  flow- 
ed, the  banks  seemed  prolonged  into  ridges,  of  the 
same  wooded  character,  two  or  three  hundred  feet 
high,  and  stretched  away  to  the  N.N.E.  and  N.N.W. 
until  they  were  twenty  or  thirty  miles  apart.  The 
intervening  space,  nearly  one  hundred  miles  in  length, 
with  the  Leeambye  winding  gently  near  the  middle,  is 
the  true  Barotse  valley.  It  bears  a  close  resemblance 
to  the  valley  of  the  Kile,  and  is  inundated  annually, 
not  by  rains  but  by  the  Leeambye,  exactly  as  Lower 
Egypt  is  flooded  by  the  Nile.  The  villages  of  the 
Barotse  are  built  on  mounds,  some  of  which  are  said 
to  have  been  raised  artifically  by  Santuru,  a  former 
chief  of  the  Barotse,  and  during  the  inundation  the 
whole  valley  assumes  the  appearance  of  a  large  lake, 
with  the  villages  on  the  mounds  like  islands,  just  as 
occurs  in  Egypt  with  the  villages  of  the  Egyptians. 

u  This  visit  was  the  first  Sekeletu  bad  made  to 
these  parts  since  he  attained  the  chieftainship.  Those 
who  had  taken  part  with  Mpepe  were  consequently  in 
^reat  terror.  When  we  came  to  the  town  of  Mpepe't 
father,  as  he  and  another  man  had  counseled  Mamoch- 


VOYAGE  UP  THE  ZAMBESI  RIVER.  137 

isane  to  put  Sekeletu  to  death  and  marry  Mpepe,  the 
two  were  led  forth  and  tossed  into  the  river.  Nokuane 
was  again  one  of  the  executioners.  When  I  remon- 
strated against  human  blood  being  shed  in  the  off- 
hand way  in  which  they  were  proceeding,  the  coun- 
selors justified  their  acts  by  the  evidence  given  by 
Mamochisane,  and  calmly  added,  '  You  see  we  are  still 
]  >oers  ;  we  are  not  yet  taught.' 

"Mpepe  had  given  full  permission  to  the  Mambari 
slave-dealers  to  trade  in  all  the  Batoka  and  Bashuku- 
lompo  villages  to  the  east  of  this.  He  had  given  them 
cattle,  ivory,  and  children,  and  had  received  in  return 
a  large  blunderbuss  to  be  mounted  as  a  cannon.  When 
the  slight  circumstance  of  my  having  covered  the  body 
of  the  chief  with  my  own  deranged  the  whole  con- 
spiracy, the  Mambari,  in  their  stockade,  were  placed  in 
very  awkward  circumstances.  It  was  proposed  to  at- 
tack them  and  drive  them  out  of  the  country  at  once: 
but,  dreading  a  commencement  of  hostilities,  I  urged 
the  difficulties  of  that  course,  and  showed  that  a  stock- 
ade defended  by  perhaps  forty  muskets  would  be  a 
very  serious  affair.  '  Hunger  is  strong  enough  foi 
mat,'  said  an  under-chief;  'a  very  great  fellow  is  he. 
They  thought  of  attacking  them  by  starvation.  Ab 
the  chief  sufferers  in  case  of  such  an  attack  would  have 
been  the  poor  slaves  chained  in  gangs,  I  interceded  for 
them,  and  the  result  of  an  intercession  of  which  they 
were  ignorant  was  that  they  were  allowed  to  depart  in 
peace. 

"  Naliele,  the  capital  of  the  Barotse,  is  built  on  a 
mound  which  was  constructed  artificially  by  San  turn, 
and  was  his  store-house  for  grain.     His  own   capital 


j  38  TRA  VELS  IN  SO UTII  AFRICA. 

6tood  about  five  hundred  yards  to  the  south  of  that, 
m  what  is  now  the  bed  of  the  river.  All  that  remains 
of  the  largest  mound  in  the  valley  are  a  few  cubic  yards 
df  earth,  to  erect  which  cost  the  whole  of  the  people  of 
Santuru  the  labor  of  many  years.  The  same  thing 
das  happened  to  another  ancient  site  of  a  town,  Lin- 
angelo,  also  on  the  left  bank.  It  would  seem,  there- 
fore, that  the  river  in  this  part  of  the  valley  must  be 
wearing  eastward.  No  great  rise  of  the  river  is  re- 
quired to  submerge  the  whole  valley ;  a  rise  of  ten 
feet  above  the  present  low-water  mark  would  reach 
the  highest  point  it  ever  attains,  as  seen  in  the  mark- 
ings of  the  bank  on  which  stood  Santuru's  ancient 
capital,  and  two  or  three  feet  more  would  deluge  all 
the  villages.  This  never  happens,  though  the  water 
sometimes  comes  so  near  the  foundations  of  the  huts 
that  the  people  cannot  move  outside  the  walls  of  reeds 
which  encircle  their  villages.  When  the  river  is  com- 
pressed among  the  high  rocky  banks  near  Goirye,  it 
rises  sixty  feet." 

From  the  town  of  Naliele  Livingstone  walked  to 
Katonga,  a  village  to  the  eastward,  on  a  ridge  which 
seems  to  bound  the  valley  of  the  Zambesi.  But  it 
was  only  the  commencement  of  the  inundated  lands, 
which  gradually  rise  from  the  dead  level  of  the  river- 
oottoms,  like  the  edge  of  the  desert  in  the  valley  of 
the  Nile.  The  situation  was  not  exempt  from  lever ; 
60  he  returned  to  Naliele  and  continued  his  voyage  up 
the  river  to  the  town  of  Libonta.  Beyond  this  point, 
ilense  forests  came  to  the  water's  edge,  and  the  tseUe 
reappeared.  Hearing  that  he  was  not  far  from  a 
great  river  called  Leeba,  which  came  down  from  the 


VOYAGE   UP   THE  ZAMBESI  RIVER.  139 

country  of  Londa  (reports  of  which  had  been  received 
through  the  Portuguese),  he  pushed  on,  and  in  Lat. 
14°  11 '  S.  reached  the  confluence  of  the  Leeba  with 
the  Zambesi.  The  latter  river  here  changes  its 
course,  and  appears  to  come  from  the  east;  it  is  still  a 
full,  deep  stream,  about  300  yards  wide,  while  the 
Leeba  has  a  breadth  of  250.  There  was  no  tradition  of 
any  white  man  having  previously  visited  the  region. 
"It  was  now,"  says  Livingstone,  "quite  evident 
that  no  healthy  location  could  be  obtained  in  which 
the  Makololo  would  be  allowed  to  live  in  peace.  I 
had  thus  a  fair  excuse,  if  I  had  chosen  to  avail  myself 
of  it,  of  coming  home  and  saying  that  the  '  door  was 
shut,'  because  the  Lord's  time  had  not  yet  come. 
But  believing  that  it  was  my  duty  to  devote  some 
portion  of  my  life  to  these  (to  me  at  least)  very  con- 
fiding and  affectionate  Makololo,  I  resolved  to  follow 
out  the  second  part  of  my  plan,  though  I  had  failed 
in  accomplishing  the  first.  The  Leeba  seemed  to 
come  from  the  N.  and  by  "W.,  or  N.N.  W. ;  so,  hav- 
ing an  old  Portuguese  map,  which  pointed  out  the 
Coanza  as  rising  from  the  middle  of  the  continent  in 
9°  S.  lat.,  I  thought  it  probable  that,  when  we  had 
ascended  the  Leeba  (from  14°  11 ')  two  or  three  de- 
grees, we  should  then  be  within  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  of  the  Coanza,  and  find  no  difficulty  in 
following  it  down  to  the  coast  near  Loanda.  This 
was  the  logical  deduction  ;  but,  as  is  the  case  witn 
many  a  plausible  theory,  one  of  the  premises  was  de- 
cidedly defective.  The  Coanza,  as  we  afterward 
found,  does  not  come  from  anywhere  near  the  centre 
of  the  country. 


140  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  At  RICA. 

"A  party  of  Arabs  from  Zanzibar  were  in  the  coun- 
try at  this  time.  Sekeletu  had  gone  from  Naliele  to 
the  town  of  his  mother  before  we  arrived  from  the 
north,  but  left  an  ox  for  our  use,  and  instructions  for 
us  to  follow  him  thither.  We  came  down  a  branch  of 
the  Leeambye  called  Marile,  which  departs  from  the 
main  river,  and  is  a  fine  deep  stream  about  sixty  yards 
wide.  It  makes  the  whole  of  the  country  around 
Naliele  an  island.  When  sleeping  at  a  village  in  the 
same  latitude  as  INaliele  town,  two  of  the  Arabs  men- 
tioned made  their  appearance.  They  were  quite  as 
dark  as  the  Makololo,  but,  having  their  heads  shaved,  I 
could  not  compare  their  hair  with  that  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country.  When  we  were  about  to  leave 
they  came  to  bid  adieu,  but  I  asked  them  to  stay  and 
help  us  eat  our  ox.  As  they  had  scruples  about  eating 
an  animal  hot  blooded  in  their  own  way,  I  gained  their 
good-will  by  saying  I  was  quite  of  their  opinion  as  to 
getting  quit  of  the  blood,  and  gave  them  two  legs  of 
an  animal  slaughtered  by  themselves. 

"As  this  was  the  first  visit  which  Sekeletu  had  paid 
to  this  part  of  his  dominions,  it  was  to  many  a  season 
of  great  joy.  The  head  men  of  each  village  presented 
oxen,  milk,  and  beer,  more  than  the  horde  which  accom- 
panied him  could  devour,  though  their  abilities  in  that 
line  are  something  wonderful.  The  people  usually 
show  their  joy  and  work  off  their  excitement  in  dai 
and  songs.  The  dance  consists  of  the  men  standing 
nearly  naked  in  a  circle,  with  clubs  or  small  battle. 
in  their  hands,  and  each  roaring  at  the  loudest  pitch 
of  his  voice,  while  they  simultaneously  lift  one  leg, 
6tamp  heavily  twice  with  it,  then  lift  the  other  anil 


MOONLIGHT   DANCE. 


VOYAGE   UP   THE  ZAMBESI  RIVER.  141 

give  one  stamp  with  that ;  this  is  the  only  movement 
in  common.  The  arms  and  head  are  often  thrown 
about  also  in  every  direction  ;  and  all  this  time  the 
roaring  is  kept  up  with  the  utmost  possible  vigor  ;  the 
continued  stamping  makes  a  cloud  of  dust  ascend,  and 
they  leave  a  deep  ring  in  the  ground  where  they  stood. 
If  the  scene  were  witnessed  in  a  lunatic  asylum  it 
would  be  nothing  out  of  the  way,  and  quite  appropri- 
ate even,  as  a  means  of  letting  off  the  excessive  excite- 
ment of  the  brain ;  but  here  gray-headed  men  joined 
in  the  performance  with  as  much  zest  as  others  whose 
youth  might  be  an  excuse  for  making  the  perspiration 
stream  off  their  bodies  with  the  exertion.  Motibe  asked 
what  I  thought  of  the  Makololo  dance.  I  replied, 
'It  is  very  hard  work,  and  brings  but  small  profit.' 
'It  is,'  replied  he,  'but  it  is  very  nice,,  and  Sekeletu 
will  give  us  an  ox  for  dancing  for  him.'  He  usually  does 
slaughter  an  ox  for  the  dancers  when  the  work  is  over. 
"  The  women  stand  by,  clapping  their  hands,  and 
occasionally  one  advances  into  the  circle,  composed  of 
a  hundred  men,  makes  a  few  movements,  and  then 
retires.  As  I  never  tried  it,  and  am  unable  to  enter 
into  the  spirit  of  the  thing,  I  cannot  recommend 
the  Makololo  polka  to  the  dancing  world,  but  I  have 
the  authority  of  no  less  a  person  than  Motibe,  Sek- 
eletu's  father-in-law,  for  saying  '  it  is  very  nice.'  They 
often  asked  if  white  people  ever  danced.  I  thought 
of  the  disease  called  St.  Yitus's  dance,  but  could  not 
Bay  that  all  our  dancers  were  affected  by  it,  and 
gave  an  answer  which,  I  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  own, 
did  not  raise  some  of  our  young  countrywomen  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Makololo. 


142  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

"As  Sekeletu  had  been  waiting  for  me  at  his 
mother's,  we  left  the  town  as  soon  as  I  arrived,  and 
proceeded  down  the  river.  Our  speed  with  the  stream 
was  very  great,  for  in  one  day  we  went  from  Litofe  to 
Gonye,  a  distance  of  forty-four  miles  of  latitude ;  and 
if  we  add  to  this  the  windings  of  the  river,  in  longi- 
tude the  distance  will  not  be  much  less  than  sixty 
geographical  miles.  At  this  rate  wre  soon  reached 
Sesheke,  and  then  the  town  of  Linyanti. 

"  I  had  been,  during  a  nine  weeks'  tour,  in  closer 
contact  with  heathenism  than  I  had  ever  been  before ; 
and  though  all,  including  the  chief,  were  as  kind  and 
attentive  to  me  as  possible,  and  there  was  no  want  of 
food  (oxen  being  slaughtered  daily,  sometimes  ten  at 
a  time,  more  than  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  all),  yet 
to  endure  the  dancing,  roaring,  and  singing,  the  jest- 
ing, anecdotes,  grumbling,  quarreling,  and  murdering 
of  these  children  of  nature,  seemed  more  like  a 
severe  penance  than  anything  I  had  before  met  with 
in  the  course  of  my  missionary  duties.  I  took  thence 
a  more  intense  disgust  at  heathenism  than  I  had 
before,  and  formed  a  greatly  elevated  opinion  of  the 
latent  effects  of  missions,  in  the  south,  among  tribes 
which  are  reported  to  have  been  as  savage  as  the 
Makololo.  The  indirect  benefits  which,  to  a  caenal 
observer,  lie  beneath  the  surface  and  are  inappreciable, 
in  reference  to  the  probable  wide  diffusion  of  Chris- 
tianity at  some  future  time,  are  worth  all  the  monf  y 
and  labor  that  have  been  expended  to  produce  them." 


CHAPTEE  X. 

Livingstone's  journey  aceoss  the  continent. 

in. UP   THE    LEEBA   RIVER. 

THE  Makololo  were  so  quick  to  perceive  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  regular  trade  with  white  men,  that 
the  greatest  difficulties  in  the  way  of  Livingstone's  fur- 
ther exploration  were  removed.  He  decided  to  wait 
at  Linyanti  until  the  rains  should  have  moderated  the 
tropical  heats,  and  then  set  out  to  find  a  way  to  St. 
Paul  de  Loanda.  His  observation  of  the  latitude 
of  Linyanti  showed  that  the  port  of  St.  Philip  de 
Benguela  was  much  nearer,  and  he  could  have  made 
arrangements  with  the  Mambari  tribe  to  pass  through 
their  territory ;  but  he  wisely  preferred  not  to  follow 
in  the  wake  of  slave-traders.  Parties  sent  out  to  the 
westward,  to  discover  a  belt  of  territory  free  from  the 
tsetse  fly,  returned  unsuccessful,  and  the  best  prospect 
seemed  to  be  to  ascend  the  Zambesi  and  the  Leeba 
as  far  as  possible,  and  then  strike  westwards  for  the 
coast.  Livingstone's  account  of  the  discussion  of  the 
matter  among  the  natives,  and  his  preparations  for 
the  further  journey,  must  be  given  in  his  own  words: 
"A  'picho'was  called  to  deliberate  on  the  steps 
proposed.  In  these  assemblies  great  freedom  01 
speech  is  allowed ;  and  on  this  occasion  one  of  the  old 
diviners   said,    ' Where   is  he  taking  you    to?     This 


144  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

white  man  is  throwing  you  away.  Your  gar  men  ta 
already  smell  of  blood.'  It  is  curious  to  observe  how 
much  identity  of  character  appears  all  over  the  world. 
This  man  was  a  noted  croaker.  He  always  dreamed 
something  dreadful  in  every  expedition,  and  was  cer- 
tain that  an  eclipse  or  comet  betokened  the  propriety 
of  flight.  But  Sebituane  formerly  set  his  visions 
down  to  cowardice,  and  Sekeletu  only  laughed  at  him 
now.  The  general  voice  was  in  my  favor ;  so  a  band 
of  twenty-seven  were  appointed  to  accompany  me  to 
the  west.  These  men  were  not  hired,  but  sent  to 
enable  me  to  accomplish  an  object  as  much  desired  by 
the  chief  and  most  of  his  people  as  by  me.  They 
were  eager  to  obtain  free  and  profitable  trade  with 
white  men.  The  prices  which  the  Cape  merchants 
could  give,  after  defraying  the  great  expenses  of  a 
long  journey  hither,  being  very  small,  made  it  scarce 
worth  while  for  the  natives  to  collect  produce  for  that 
market ;  and  the  Mambari,  giving  only  a  few  bits  of 
print  and  baize  for  elephants'  tusks  worth  more  pounds 
than  they  gave  yards  of  cloth,  had  produced  the  be- 
lief that  trade  with  them  was  throwing  ivory  away. 
The  desire  of  the  Makololo  for  direct  trade  with  the 
sea-coast  coincided  exactly  with  my  own  conviction 
that  no  permanent  elevation  of  a  people  can  be  effected 
without  commerce. 

"  The  Makololo  now  put  the  question,  '  In  the 
event  of  your  death,  will  not  the  white  people  blame 
us  for  having  allowed  you  to  go  away  into  an  un- 
healthy, unknown  country  of  enemies  V  1  replied  that 
none  of  my  friends  would  blame  them,  because  I 
would  leave  a  book  with  Sekeletu,  to  be  sent  to  Mr 


UP   THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  145 

Moffat  in  case  I  did  not  return,  which  would  explain 
to  him  all  that  had  happened  until  the  time  of  my 
departure.  The  book  was  a  volume  of  my  Journal; 
and,  as  I  was  detained  longer  than  I  expected  at 
Loanda,  this  book,  with  a  letter,  was  delivered  by 
Sekeletu  to  a  trader,  and  I  have  been  unable  to  traco 
it.  I  regret  this  now,  as  it  contained  valuable  notes 
on  the  habits  of  wild  animals,  and  the  request  was 
made  in  the  letter  to  convey  the  volume  to  my  family. 
The  prospect  of  passing  away  from  this  fair  and 
beautiful  world  thus  came  before  me  in  a  pretty  plain, 
matter-of-fact  form,  and  it  did  seem  a  serious  thing  to 
leave  wife  and  children — to  break  up  all  connection 
with  earth,  and  enter  on  an  untried  state  of  existence; 
and  I  find  myself  in  my  Journal  pondering  over  that 
fearful  migration  which  lands  us  in  eternity,  wonder- 
ing whether  an  angel  will  soothe  the  fluttering  soul, 
sadly  flurried  as  it  must  be  on  entering  the  spirit 
world,  and  hoping  that  Jesus  might  speak  but  one 
word  of  peace,  for  that  would  establish  in  the  bosom 
an  everlasting  calm. 

"I  had  three  muskets  for  my  people,  a  rifle  and 
double-barreled  smooth-bore  for  myself;  and,  having 
seen  such  great  abundance  of  game  in  my  visit  to  the 
Leeba,  I  imagined  that  I  could  easily  supply  the  wants 
of  my  party.  "Wishing  also  to  avoid  the  discourage- 
ment which  would  naturally  be  felt  on  meeting  any 
obstacles  if  my  companions  were  obliged  to  carry  heavy 
loads,  I  took  only  a  few  biscuits,  a  few  pounds  of  tea 
and  sugar,  and  about  twenty  of  coffee,  which,  as  the 
Arabs  find,  though  used  without  either  milk  or  sugar, 
is  a  most  refreshing  beverage  after  fatigue  or  exposure 
10 


1-16  TRA  VELS  IN  SO UTH  AFRICA. 

to  the  sun.  "We  carried  one  small  tin  canister,  about 
fifteen  inches  square,  filled  with  spare  shirting,  trow- 
sers,  and  shoes,  to  be  used  when  we  reached  civilized 
life,  and  others  in  a  bag,  which  were  expected  to  wear 
out  on  the  way;  another  of  the  same  size  for  medi- 
cines ;  and  a  third  for  books,  my  stock  being  a  Nautical 
Almanac,  Thomson's  Logarithm  Tables,  and  a  Bible; 
a  fourth  box  contained  a  magic  lantern,  which  we 
found  of  much  use.  The  sextant  and  artificial  horizon, 
thermometer,  and  compasses  were  carried  apart.  My 
ammunition  was  distributed  in  portions  through  the 
whole  luggage,  so  that,  if  an  accident  should  befall  one 
part,  we  could  still  have  others  to  fall  back  upon. 
Our  chief  hopes  for  food  were  upon  that ;  but  in  case 
of  failure,  I  took  about  201bs.  of  beads,  worth  40*., 
which  still  remained  of  the  stock  I  brought  from  Cape- 
town, a  small  gipsy -tent,  just  sufficient  to  sleep  in,  a 
sheep-skin  mantle  as  a  blanket,  and  a  horse-rug  as  a 
bed.  As  I  had  always  found  that  the  art  of  successful 
travel  consisted  in  taking  as  few  'impedimenta5  as 
possible,  and  not  forgetting  to  carry  my  wits  about  me, 
the  outfit  was  rather  spare,  and  intended  to  be  still 
more  so  when  we  should  come  to  leave  the  canoes. 
Some  would  consider  it  injudicious  to  adopt  this  plan, 
but  I  had  a  secret  conviction  that  if  I  did  not  succeed, 
it  would  not  be  for  want  of  the  'knick-knacks'  adver- 
tised as  indispensable  for  travellers,  but  from  want  of 
'pluck,'  or  because  a  large  array  of  baggage  excited  the 
cupidity  of  the  tribes  through  whose  country  we 
wished  to  pass. 

"  The  course  of  the  Chobe  TCiver,  after  starting,  we 
found  to  be  extremely  tortuous ;  so  much  so,  indeed, 


UP  THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  147 

as  to  carry  us  to  all  points  of  the  compass  every  dozen 
miles.  Some  of  ns  walked  from  a  bend  at  the  village 
of  Morerai,  to  another  nearly  due  east  of  that  point, 
in  six  hours,  while  the  canoes,  going  at  more  than 
double  our  speed,  took  twelve  to  accomplish  the  voy« 
age  between  the  same  two  places.  And  though  the 
river  is  from  thirteen  to  fifteen  feet  in  depth  at  its  low- 
est ebb,  and  br?ad  enough  to  allow  a  steamer  to  ply 
upon  it,  the  suddenness  of  the  bendings  would  prevent 
navigation ;  but,  should  the  country  ever  become  civ- 
ilized, the  Chobe  would  be  a  convenient  natural  canal. 

"  After  spending  one  night  at  the  Makololo  village 
on  Mparia,  we  left  the  Chobe,  and  turning  round,  be- 
gan to  ascend  the  Leeambye  ;  on  the  19  th  of  Novem- 
ber we  again  reached  the  town  of  Sesheke.  It  stands 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  and  contains  a  large 
population  of  Makalaka,  under  Moriantsane,  brother- 
in-law  of  Sebituane.  There  are  parties  of  various 
tribes  here,  assembled  under  their  respective  head  men, 
but  a  few  Makololo  rule  over  all.  Their  sway,  though 
essentially  despotic,  is  considerably  mollified  by  certain 
customs  and  laws. 

"  The  following  circumstance,  which  happened  here 
when  I  was  present  with  Sekeletu,  shows  that  the 
simple  mode  of  punishment,  by  forcing  a  criminal  to 
work  out  a  fine,  did  not  strike  the  Makololo  mind  un- 
til now.  A  stranger  having  visited  Sesheke  for  the 
purpose  of  barter,  was  robbed  by  one  of  the  Makalaka 
of  most  of  his  goods.  The  thief,  when  caught,  con- 
fessed the  theft,  and  that  he  had  given  the  articles  to  a 
person  who  had  removed  to  a  distance.  The  Makololo 
were  much  enraged  at  the  idea  of  their  good  name 


148  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

being  compromised  by  this  treatment  of  a  stranger. 
Their  customary  mode  of  punishing  a  crime  which 
causes  much  indignation  is  to  throw  the  criminal  into 
the  river ;  but,  as  this  would  not  restore  the  lost  prop- 
erty, they  were  sorely  puzzled  how  to  act.  The  case 
was  referred  to  me,  and  I  solved  the  difficulty  by  pay- 
ing for  the  loss  myself,  and  sentencing  the  thief  to  work 
out  an  equivalent  with  his  hoe  in  a  garden.  This  sy? 
tem  was  immediately  introduced,  and  thieves  are  now 
sentenced  to  raise  an  amount  of  corn  proportioned  to 
their  offences. 

"  On  recovering  partially  from  a  severe  attack  of 
fever  which  remained  upon  me  ever  since  our  passing 
the  village  of  Moremi  on  the  Chobe,  we  made  ready 
for  our  departure  up  the  river  by  sending  messages 
before  us  to  the  villages  to  prepare  food.  We  took  four 
elephants'  tusks,  belonging  to  Sekeletu,  with  us,  as  a 
means  of  testing  the  difference  of  prices  between  the 
Portuguese,  whom  we  expected  to  reach,  and  the  white 
traders  from  the  south.  Moriantsane  supplied  us  well 
with  honey,  milk,  and  meal.  The  rains  were  just  com- 
mencing in  this  district ;  but,  though  showers  sufficient 
to  lay  the  dust  had  fallen,  they  had  no  influence  what- 
ever on  the  amount  of  water  in  the  river,  yet  never  was 
there  less  in  any  part  than  three  hundred  yards  of  a 
deep  flowing  stream. 

"Our  progress  up  the  river  was  rather  slow ;  this 
ttas.  caused  by  waiting  opposite  different  villages  for 
supplies  of  food.  We  might  have  done  with  much  less 
than  we  got ;  but  my  Makololo  man,  Piteane,  knew  of 
the  generous  orders  of  Sekeletu,  and  was  not  at  all  dis- 
posed to  allow  them  to  remain  a  dead  letter.     The  vil- 


UP  THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  149 

lages  of  the  Banyeti  contributed  laige  quantities  of 
mosibe,  a  bright  red  bean  yielded  by  a  large  tree.  The 
pulp  inclosing  the  seed  is  not  much  thicker  than  a  red 
wafer,  and  is  the  portion  used.  It  requires  the  addition 
of  honey  to  render  it  at  all  palatable.  To  these  were 
added  great  numbers  of  the  fruit  which  yields  a  variety 
of  the  nux  vomica,  from  which  we  derive  that  virulent 
poison  strychnia.  The  pulp  between  the  nuts  is  the 
part  eaten,  and  it  is  of  a  pleasant  juicy  nature,  having  a 
sweet  acidulous  taste.  The  fruit  itself  resembles  a 
large  yellow  orange. 

"  When  under  way  our  usual  procedure  is  this :  We 
get  up  a  little  before  five  in  the  morning ;  it  is  then 
beginning  to  dawn.  While  T  am  dressing,  coffee  is 
made  ;  and,  having  tilled  my  pannikin,  the  remainder 
is  handed  to  my  companions,  who  eagerly  partake  of 
the  refreshing  beverage.  The  servants  are  busy  load- 
ing the  canoes,  while  the  principal  men  are  sip- 
ping the  coffee,  and,  that  being  soon  over,  we  embark. 
The  next  two  hours  are  the  most  pleasant  part  of  the 
day's  sail.  The  men  paddle  away  most  vigorously ; 
the  Bnrotse,  being  a  tribe  of  boatmen,  have  large, 
deeply  -developed  chests  and  shoulders,  with  indifferent 
lower  extremities.  They  often  engage  in  loud  scold- 
ing o^  each  other  in  order  to  relieve  the  tedium  of 
their  work.  About  eleven  we  land,  and  eat  any  meat 
which  may  have  remained  from  the  previous  evening 
meal,  or  a  biscuit  with  honey,  and  drink  water. 

"  After  an  hour's  rest  we  again  embark  and  cower 
undei  an  umbrella.  The  heat  is  oppressive,  and,  being 
weak  from  the  last  attack  of  fever,  I  cannot  land  and 
keep  the  camp  supplied  with  flesh.     The  men,  being 


150  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

quite  uncovered  in  the  sun,  perspire  profusely,  and  in 
the  afternoon  begin  to  stop,  as  if  waiting  for  the  canoes 
which  have  been  left  behind.  Sometimes  we  reach  a 
sleeping-place  two  hours  before  sunset,  and,  all  being 
troubled  with  languor,  we  gladly  remain  for  the  night. 
Coffee  again,  and  a  biscuit,  or  a  piece  of  course  bread 
made  of  maize  meal,  or  that  of  the  native  corn,  make 
up  the  bill  of  tare  for  the  evening,  unless  we  have  been 
fortunate  enough  to  kill  something,  when  we  boil  a 
potful  of  flesh.  This  is  done  by  cutting  it  up  into  long 
strips  and  pouring  in  water  till  it  is  covered.  When 
that  is  boiled  dry,  the  meat  is  considered  ready. 

"  The  people  of  every  village  treated  us  most  liber- 
ally, presenting  besides  oxen,  butter,  milk,  and  meal, 
more  than  we  could  stow  away  in  our  canoes.  The  cows 
in  this  valley  are  now  yielding,  as  they  frequently  do, 
more'milk  than  the  people  can  use,  and  both  men 
and  women  present  butter  in  such  quantity  that  I 
shall  be  able  to  refresh  my  men  as  we  move  along. 
Anointing  the  skin  prevents  the  excessive  evaporation 
of  the  fluids  of  the  body,  and  acts  as  clothing  in 
both  sun  and  shade.  They  always  made  their  pres- 
ents gracefully.  When  an  ox  was  given  the  owner 
would  say,  'Here  is  a  little  bit  of  bread  for  you.' 
This  was  pleasing,  for  I  had  been  accustomed  to  the 
Bechuanas  presenting  a  miserable  goat,  with  the  pom- 
pous exclamation,  '  Behold  an  ox  ! '  The  women  per- 
sisted in  giving  me*  copious  supplies  of  shrill  praises, 
or  <  lullilooing ; '  but  though  I  frequently  told  them 
to  modify  their  ' great  lords'  and  'great  lions'  to  more 
umnble  expressions,  they  so  evidently  intended  to  do 
me  honor  that  I  could  not  help  being  pleased  with  the 
Door  creatures'  wishes  for  our  success. 


UP  THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  151 

"  The  rains  began  while  we  were  at  Naliele ; 
this  is  much  later  than  usual ;  though  the  Bar- 
otse  valley  has  been  in  need  of  rain,  the  people 
never  lack  abundance  of  food.  The  showers  are 
refreshing,  but  the  air  feels  hot  and  close;  the 
thermometer,  however,  in  a  cool  hut,  stands  only  at 
84:°.  The  access  of  the  external  air  to  any  spot  at 
once  raises  its  temperature  above  90°.  A  new  attack 
of  fever  here  caused  excessive  languor ;  but,  as  I  am 
already  getting  tired  of  quoting  my  fevers,  and  never 
liked  to  read  travels  myself  where  much  was  said 
about  the  illness  of  the  traveller,  1  shall  henceforth 
endeavor  to  say  little  about  them. 

"  Leaving  Naliele,  amid  abundance  of  good  wishes 
for  the  success  of  our  expedition,  and  hopes  that  we 
might  return  accompanied  with  white  traders,  we 
began  again  our  ascent  of  the  river.  It  was  now 
beginning  to  rise,  though  the  rains  had  but  just  com- 
menced in  the  valley.  The  banks  are  low,  but  cleanly 
cut,  and  seldom  sloping.  At  low  water  they  are  from 
four  to  eight  feet  high,  and  make  the  river  always 
assume  very  much  the  aspect  of  a  canal.  They  are  in 
some  parts  of  whitish,  tenacious  clay,  with  strata  of 
black  clay  intermixed,  and  black  loam  in  sand,  or 
pure  sand  stratified.  As  the  river  rises  it  is  always 
wearing  to  one  side  or  the  other,  and  is  known  to 
have  cut  across  from  one  bend  to  another,  and  to  form 
new  channels.  As  we  coast  along  the  shore,  pieces 
which  are  undermined  often  fall  in  with  a  splash  like 
that  caused  by  the  plunge  of  an  alligator,  and  en 
danger  the  canoe. 

"  Before   leaving   the   villages   entirely,   we  may 


152  TRA  VEL  S  IN  SOU  Til  A  FRICA. 

glance  at  our  way  of  spending  the  nights.  As  soon 
as  we  land,  some  of  the  men  cut  a  little  grass  for  my 
bed,  while  Mashuana  plants  the  poles  of  the  little  tent. 
These  are  used  by  day  for  carrying  burdens,  for  the 
Barotse  fashion  is  exactly  like  that  of  the  natives  of 
India,  only  the  burden  is  fastened  near  the  ends  of  the 
pole,  and  not  suspended  by  long  cords.  The  bed  is 
made,  and  boxes  ranged  on  each  side  of  it,  and  then 
the  tent  pitched  over  all.  Four  or  live  feet  in  front  of 
my  tent  is  placed  the  principal  or  kotla  fire,  the  wood 
for  which  must  be  collected  by  the  man  who  occupies 
the  post  of  herald,  and  takes  as  his  perquisite  the 
heads  of  all  the  oxen  slaughtered,  and  of  all  the  game 
too.  Each  person  knows  the  station  he  is  to  occupy, 
in  reference  to  the  post  of  honor  at  the  fire  in  front  of 
the  door  of  the  tent.  The  two  Makololo  occupy  my 
right  and  left,  both  in  eating  and.  sleeping,  as  long  as 
the  journey  lasts.  But  Mashauana,  my  head  boatman, 
makes  his  bed  at  the  door  of  the  tent  as  soon  as  I  re- 
tire. The  rest,  divided  into  small  companies  accord- 
ing to  their  tribes,  make  sheds  all  round  the  tire,  leav- 
ing a  horseshoe-shaped  space  in  front  sufficient  for  the 
cattle  to  stand  in.  The  tire  gives  confidence  to  the 
oxen,  so  the  men  are  always  careful  to  keep  them  in 
sight  of  it.  The  sheds  are  formed  by  planting  two 
stout  forked  poles  in  an  inclined  direction,  and  placing 
another  over  these  in  a  horizontal  position.  A  num- 
ber of  branches  are  then  stuck  in  the  ground  in  the 
direction  to  which  the  poles  are  inclined,  the  twigs 
drawn  down  to  the  horizontal  pole  and  tied  with  strips 
of  bark.  Long  grass  is  then  laid  over  the  branches  in 
lufhVieut  quantity  to -draw  off  the  rain,  and  we  have 


UP   THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  153 

*heds  open  to  the  lire  in  front,  but  secure  from  beasts 
behind.  In  less  than  an  hour  we  were  usually  all 
under  cover.  We  never  lacked  abundance  of  grass 
during  the  whole  journey.  It  is  a  picturesque  sight  at 
night,  when  the  clear  bright  moon  of  these  climates 
glances  on  the  sleeping  forms  around,  to  look  out  upon 
the  attitudes  of  profound  repose  both  men  and  beasts 
assume.  There  being  no  danger  from  wild  animals  in 
such  a  night,  the  fires  are  allowed  almost  to*  go  out ; 
and  as  there  is  no  fear  of  hungry  dogs  coming  over 
6leepers  and  devouring  the  food,  or  quietly  eating  up 
the  poor  fellows'  blankets,  which  at  best  were  but 
greasy  skins,  which  sometimes  happened  in  the  vil- 
lages, the  picture  was  one  of  perfect  peace. 

"  Part  of  our  company  marched  along  the  banks 
with  the  oxen,  and  part  went  in  the  canoes,  but  our 
pace  was  regulated  by  the  speed  of  the  men  on  shore. 
Their  course  was  rather  difficult,  on  account  of  the 
numbers  of  departing  and  re-entering  branches  of  the 
Leeambye,  which  they  had  to  avoid  or  wait  at  till  we 
ferried  them  over.  The  number  of  alligators  is  pro- 
digious, and  in  this  river  they  are  more  savage  than  in 
some  others.  Many  children  are  carried  off  annually 
at  Sesheke  and  other  towns ;  for,  notwithstanding  the 
danger,  when  they  go  down  for  water  they  almost  always 
must  play  a  while.  This  reptile  is  said  by  the  natives  to 
strike  the  victim  with  its  tail,  then  drag  him  in  and 
drown  him.  When  lying  in  the  water  watching  for 
prey,  the  body  never  appears.  Many  calves  are  lost 
also,  and  it  is  seldom  that  a  number  of  cows  can  swim 
over  at  Sesheke  without  some  loss.  I  never  could 
avoid  shuddering  on  seeing  my  men  swimming  across 


1 54  TRA  VELS  IN  SO UTII  AFRICA. 

these  branches,  after  one  of  them  had  been  caught  by 
the  thigh  and  taken  below.  He,  however,  retained,  aa 
nearly  all  of  them  in  the  most  trying  circumstances  do, 
his  fall  presence  of  mind,  and,  having  a  small,  square, 
ragged-edged  javelin  with  him,  when  dragged  to  the 
bottom,  gave  the  alligator  a  stab  behind  the  shoulder. 
The  alligator,  writhing  in  pain,  left  him,  and  he  came 
out  with  the  deep  marks  of  the  reptile's  teeth  on  his 
thigh.  Here  the  people  have  no  antipathy  to  persons 
who  have  met  with  such  an  adventure,  but,  in  the  Ba- 
mangwato  and  Bakwain  tribes,  if  a  man  is  either  bit- 
ten, or  even  has  had  water  splashed  over  him  by  the 
reptile's  tail,  he  is  expelled  his  tribe.  When  on  the 
Zouga  we  saw  one  of  the  Bamangwato  living  among 
the  Bayeiye,  who  had  the  misfortune  to  have  been 
bitten  and  driven  out  of  his  tribe  in  consequence. 
Fearing  that  I  would  regard  him  with  the  same  dis- 
gust which  his  countrymen  profess  to  feel,  he  would 
not  tell  me  the  cause  of  his  exile,  but  the  Bayeiye 
informed  me  of  it,  and  the  scars  of  the  teeth  were 
visible  on  his  thigh.  If  the  Bakwains  happened  to 
go  near  an  alligator  they  would  spit  on  the  ground, 
and  indicate  its  presence  by  saying,  *  Boleo  ki  bo ' — 
i  There  is  sin.'  They  imagine  the  mere  sight  of  it 
would  give  inflammation  of  the  eyes;  and  though 
they  eat  the  zebra  without  hesitation,  yet  if  one  bites 
a  man  he  is  expelled  the  tribe,  and  obliged  to  take 
his  wife  and  family  awa}T  to  the  Kalahari.  These 
curious  relics  of  the  animal  worship  of  former  times 
scarcely  exist  among  the  Makololo.  Sebituane  acted 
on  the  principle,  '  Whatever  is  food  for  men  is  food 
for  me  ; '  so  no  man  is  here  considered  unclean.  The 
7 


UP  THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  155 

Barotse  appear  inclined  to  pray  to  alligators  and  eat 
them  too,  for  when  T  wounded  a  water-antelope,  called 
mochose,  it  took  to  the  water;  when  near  the  other 
side  of  the  river  an  alligator  appeared  at  its  tail,  and 
then  both  sank  together.  Mashauanu,  who  was  nearer 
to  it  than  I,  told  me  that,  '  though  he  had  called  to  it 
to  let  his  meat  alone,  it  refused  to  listen.'  One  day 
we  passed  some  Barotse  lads  who  had  speared  an  alli- 
gator, and  were  waiting  in  expectation  of  its  floating 
soon  after.  The  meat  has  a  strong  musky  odor,  not  at 
all  inviting  for  any  one  except  the  very  hungry. 

"  On  the  27th  of  December  we  were  at  the  conflu- 
ence of  the  Leeba  and  Leeambye  (lat.  14°  10 f  S.,  long. 
28°  35 f  E.).  Masiko,  the  Barotse  chief,  for  whom  wo 
had  some  captives,  lived  nearly  due  east  of  this  point. 
The)  were  two  little  boys,  a  little  girl,  a  young  man, 
and  two  middle-a^ed  women.  One  of  these  was  a 
member  of  a  Babimpe  tribe,  who  knock  out  both  up- 
per and  lower  front  teeth  as  a  distinction.  As  we  had 
been  informed  by  the  captives  on  the  previous  Sun- 
day that  Masiko  was  in  the  habit  of  seizing  all  or- 
phans, and  those  who  have  no  powerful  friend  in  the 
tribe  whose  protection  they  can  claim,  and  selling 
them  for  clothing  to  the  Mambari,  we  thought  the 
objection  of  the  women  to  go  first  to  his  town  before 
seeing  their  friends  quite  reasonable,  and  resolved  to 
send  a  party  of  our  own  people  to  see  them  safely 
among  their  relatives.  I  told  the  captive  young  man 
to  inform  Masiko  that  he  was  very  unlike  his  father 
Banturu,  who  had  refused  to  sell  his  people  to  Mam- 
bari. He  will  probably  be  afraid  to  deliver  such  a 
\nessage  himself,  but  it  is  meant  for  his  people,  and 


1 56  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

they  will  circulate  it  pretty  widely,  and  Masiko  maj 
may  yet  feel  a  little  pressure  from  without. 

u  We  now  began  to  ascend  the  Leeba.  The  water 
is  black  in  color  as  compared  with  the  main  stream, 
which  here  assumes  the  name  Kabompo.  The  Leeba 
flows  placidly,  and,  unlike  the  parent  river,  receives 
numbers  of  little  rivulets  from  both  sides.  It  winds 
slowly  through  the  most  charming  meadows,  each  of 
which  has  either  a  soft,  sedgy  centre,  large  pond,  or 
trickling  rill  down  the  middle.  The  trees  are  now  cov- 
ered with  a  profusion  of  the  freshest  foliage,  and  seem 
planted  in  groups  of  such  pleasant,  graceful  outline 
that  art  could  give  no  additional  charm.  The  grass, 
which  had  been  burned  off  and  was  growing  again 
after  the  rains,  was  short  and  green,  and  all  the  sce- 
nery so  like  that  of  a  carefully-tended  gentleman's  park, 
that  one  is  scarcely  reminded  that  the  surrounding  re- 
gion is  in  the  hands  of  simple  nature  alone.  I  suspect 
that  the  level  meadows  are  inundated  annually,  for  the 
spots  on  which  the  trees  stand  are  elevated  three  or 
four  feet  above  them,  and  these  elevations,  being  of 
different  shapes,  give  the  strange  variety  of  outline  of 
the  park-like  woods.  Numbers  of  a  fresh-water  si  1  ell 
are  scattered  all  over  these  valleys.  The  elevations, 
as  I  have  observed  elsewhere,  are  of  a  soft,  sandy  soil, 
and  the  meadows  of  black,  rich  alluvial  loam.  There 
are  many  beautiful  flowers,  and  many  bees  to  sip  their 
nectar. 

"When  we  reached  the  part  of  the  river  opposite 
to  the  village  of  Manenko,  the  first  female  chief  whom 
we  encountered,  two  of  the  people  called  Balunda,  or 
Balonda,  came  to  us  in  their  little  canoe.     From  them 


UP  THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  157 

we  learned  that  Kolimbota,  one  of  our  party,  who  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  visiting  these  parts,  was  believed 
by  the  Balonda  to  have  acted  as  a  guide  to  the  mar- 
auders, whose  captives  we  were  now  returning.  They 
very  naturally  suspected  this,  from  the  facility  with 
which  their  villages  had  been  found,  and,  as  they  had 
since  removed  them  to  some  distance  from  the  river, 
they  were  unwilling  to  lead  us  to  their  places  of  con- 
cealment. We  were  in  bad  repute,  but,  having  a  cap- 
tive boy  and  girl  to  show  in  evidence  of  Sekeletu  and 
ourselves  not  being  partakers  in  the  guilt  of  inferior 
men,  I  could  freely  express  my  desire  that  all  should 
live  in  peace. 

"As  it  would  have  been  impolitic  to  pass  Ma- 
nenko,  or  any  chief,  without  at  least  showing  so  much 
respect  as  to  call  and  explain  the  objects  of  our  pass- 
ing through  the  country,  we  waited  two  entire  days 
for  the  return  of  the  messengers  to  Manenko ;  and  as 
I  could  not  hurry  matters,  I  went  into  the  adjacent 
country  to  search  for  meat  for  the  camp. 

"The  country  is  furnished  largely  with  forest, 
having  occasionally  open  lawns  covered  with  grass, 
not  in  tufts  as  in  the  south,  but  so  closely  planted  that 
one  cannot  see  the  soil.  We  came  upon  a  man  and 
his  two  wTives  and  children,  burning  coarse  rushes  and 
the  stalks  of  tsitla,  growing  in  a  brackish  marsh,  in 
order  to  extract  a  kind  of  salt  from  the  ashes.  They 
make  a  funnel  of  branches  of  trees,  and  line  it  with 
grass  rope,  twisted  round  until  it  is,  as  it  were,  a  bee- 
Vive-roof  inverted.  The  ashes  are  put  into  water,  in 
a  calabash,  and  then  it  is  allowed  to  percolate  through 
the  small  hole  in  the  bottom  and  through  the  grass. 


158  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

When  this  water  is  evaporated  in  the  sun,  it  yields 
sufficient  salt  to  form  a  relish  with  food.  The  women 
and  children  fled  with  precipitation,  but  we  sat  down 
at  a  distance,  and  allowed  the  man  time  to  gain  cour- 
age enough  to  speak.  He,  however,  trembled  exces- 
sively at  the  apparition  before  him ;  but  when  we 
explained  that  our  object  was  to  hunt  game,  and  not 
men,  he  became  calm,  and  called  back  his  wives.  We 
soon  afterward  came  to  another  party  on  the  same  er- 
rand with  ourselves.  The  man  had  a  bow  about  six 
feet  long,  and  iron-headed  arrows  about  thirty  inches 
in  length ;  he  had  also  wooden  arrows  neatly  barbed, 
to  shoot  in  cases  where  he  might  not  be  quite  certain 
of  recovering  them  again.  We  soon  afterward  got  a 
zebra,  and  gave  our  hunting  acquaintances  such  a 
liberal  share  that  we  soon  became  friends. 

"On  the  6th  of  January  1S54,  we  reached  the 
village  of  another  female  chief,  named  Kyamoana, 
who  is  said  to  be  the  mother  of  Manenko,  and  sister 
of  Shinte  or  Kabompo,  the  greatest  Balonda  chief  in 
this  part  of  the  country.  Her  people  had  but  re- 
cently come  to  the  present  locality,  and  had  erected 
only  twenty  huts.  Her  husband,  Samoana,  Mas 
clothed  in  a  kilt  of  green  and  red  baize,  and  was 
armed  with  a  spear  and  a  broadsword  of  antique  form, 
about  eighteen  inches  long  and  three  broad.  The 
chief  and  her  husband  were  sitting  on  skins  placed  in 
the  middle  of  a  circle  thirty  paces  in  diameter,  a  little 
raised  above  the  ordinary  level  of  the  ground,  and 
having  a  trench  round  it.  Outside  the  trench  sat 
about  a  hundred  persons  of  all  ages  and  both  sexes. 
The  men  were  well  armed  with  be  \vs,  arrows,  spears, 


UP   THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  15£ 

%nd  broadswords.  Beside  the  husband  sat  a  rather 
aged  woman,  having  a  bad  outward  squint  in  the  left 
eye.  We  put  down  our  arms  about  forty  yards  off, 
and  I  walked  up  to  the  centre  of  the  circular  bench, 
and  saluted  him  in  the  usual  way  by  clapping  the 
hands  together  in.  their  fashion.  He  pointed  to  his 
wife,  as  much  as  to  say  the  honor  belongs  to  her.  I 
saluted  her  in  the  same  way,  and  a  mat  having  been 
brought,  I  squatted  down  in  front  of  them. 

"  The  talker  was  then  called,  and  I  was  asked  who 
was  my  spokesman.  Having  pointed  to  Koliinbota, 
who  knew  their  dialect  best,  the  palaver  began  in  due 
form.  I  explained  the  real  objects  I  had  in  view, 
without  any  attempt  to  mystify  or  appear  in  any 
other  character  than  my  own,  for  I  have  always  been 
satisfied  that,  even  though  there  were  no  other  con- 
siderations, the  truthful  way  of  dealing  with  the  un- 
civilized is  unquestionably  the  best.  Koliinbota  re- 
peated to  Kyamoana's  talker  what  I  had  said  to  him. 
lie  delivered  it  all  verbatim  to  her  husband,  who  re- 
peated it  again  to  her.  It  was  thus  all  rehearsed  four 
times  over,  in  a  tone  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  the 
whole  party  of  auditors.  The  response  came  back  by 
the  same  roundabout  route,  beginning  at  the  lady  to 
her  husband,  etc. 

"By  wa}r  of  gaining  their  confidence,  I  showed 
them  my  hair,  which  is  considered  a  curiosity  in  all 
this  region.  They  said,  *  Is  that  hair  ?  It  is  the 
mane  of  a  lion,  and  not  hair  at  all.'  Some  thought 
that  I  had  made  a  wig  of  lion's  mane,  as  they  some- 
times do  with  fibres  of  the  <  ife,'  and  dye  it  black,  and 
twist  it  so  as  to  resemble  a  mass  of  their  own  wool. 


1 60  TRA  VEL  S  IN  SO  U  TH  A  FRICA . 

I  could  not  return  the  joke  by  telling  them  that 
theirs  was  not  hair,  but  the  wool  of  sheep,  for  they 
have  none  of  these  in  the  country ;  and  even  though 
they  had,  as  Herodotus  remarked,  '  the  African  sheep 
are  clothed  with  hair,  and  men's  heads  with  wool." 
So  I  had  to  be  content  with  asserting  that  mine  was 
the  real  original  hair,  such  as  theirs  would  have  been 
had  it  not  been  scorched  and  frizzled  by  the  sun.  In 
proof  of  what  the  sun  could  do,  I  compared  my  own 
bronzed  face  and  hands,  then  about  the  same  in  com- 
plexion as  the  lighter-colored  Makololo,  with  the 
white  skin  of  my  chest.  They  readily  believed  that, 
as  they  go  nearly  naked  and  fully  exposed  to  that  in. 
fluence,  we  might  be  of  common  origin  after  all. 
Here,  as  everywhere,  when  heat  and  moisture  are 
combined,  the  people  are  very  dark,  but  not  quite 
black.  There  is  always  a  shade  of  brown  in  the  most 
deeply  colored.  I  showed  my  watch  and  pocket 
compass,  which  are  considered  great  curiosities;  but, 
though  the  lady  was  called  on  by  her  husband  to 
look,  she  would  not  be  persuaded  to  approach  near 
enough. 

"As  the  Leeba  seemed  still  to  come  from  the  di- 
rection in  which  we  wished  to  go,  I  was  desirous  of 
proceeding  farther  up  with  the  canoes;  but  Nyamo- 
ana  was  anxious  that  we  should  allow  her  people  to 
conduct  us  to  her  brother  Shinte;  and  when  I  ex- 
plained the  advantage  of  water-carriage,  she  repre- 
sented that  her  brother  did  not  live  near  the  river, 
and,  moreover,  there  was  a  cataract  in  front,  over 
which  it  would  be  difficult  to  convey  the  canoes.  She 
was  afraid,  too,  that  the   Kalobale,  whose  country  lies 


UP  THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  \Q\ 

to  the  west  of  the  river,  not  knowing  the  objects  for 
which  we  had  come,  would  kill  us.  To  my  reply  that 
I  had  been  so  often  threatened  with  death  if  I  vis- 
ited a  new  tribe  that  I  was  now  more  afraid  of  killing 
any  one  than  of  being  killed,  she  rejoined  that  the 
Ealobale  would  not  kill  me,  but  the  Makololo  would 
all  be  sacrificed  as  their  enemies.  This  produced  con- 
siderable effect  on  my  companions,  and  inclined  them 
to  the  plan  of  Nyamoana,  of  going  to  the  town  of  her 
brother  rather  than  ascending  the  Leeba.  The  ar- 
rival of  Manenko  herself  on  the  scene  threw  so  much 
weight  into  the  scale  on  their  side  that  I  was  forced 
to  yield  the  point. 

"  Manenko  was  a  tall,  strapping  woman  about 
twenty,  distinguished  by  a  profusion  of  ornaments  and 
medicines  hung  round  her  person ;  the  latter  are  sup- 
posed to  act  as  charms.  Her  body  was  smeared  all  over 
with  a  mixture  of  fat  and  red  ochre,  as  a  protection 
against  the  weather ;  a  necessary  precaution,  for,  like 
most  of  the  Balonda  ladies,  she  was  otherwise  in  a  state  of 
frightful  nudit}\  This  was  not  from  want  of  clothing, 
for,  being  a  chief,  she  might  have  been  as  well  clad  as 
any  of  her  subjects,  but  from  her  peculiar  ideas  of  ele- 
gance in  dress.  When  she  arrived  with  her  husband, 
Sambanza,  they  listened  for  some  time  to  the  state- 
ments I  was  making  to  the  people  of  JSTyamoana,  aftei 
which  the  husband,  acting  as  spokesman,  commenced 
an  oration,  stating  the  reasons  for  their  coming,  and, 
during  every  two  or  three  seconds  of  the  delivery,  he 
picked  up  a  litt  3  sand,  and  rubbed  it  on  the  upper 
part  of  his  arms  and  chest.  This  is  a  common  mode 
of  salutation  in  Londa;  and  when  they  wish  to  be  ex- 
11 


162  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

cessivcly  polite,  they  bring  a  quantity  of  ashes  or  pipe- 
clay in  a  piece  of  skin,  and,  taking  up  handfuls,  rub  it 
on  the  chest  and  upper  front  part  of  each  arm  ;  others, 
in  saluting,  drum  their  ribs  with  their  elbows ;  while 
others  still  touch  the  ground  with  one  cheek  after  the 
other,  and  clap  their  hands.  The  chiefs  go  through 
the  manoeuvre  of  rubbing  the  sand  on  the  arms,  but 
only  make  a  feint  at  picking  up  some.  When  Sam- 
banza  had  finished  his  oration,  he  rose  up,  and  showed 
his  ankles  ornamented  with  a  bundle  of  copper  rings; 
had  they  been  very  heavy,  they  would  have  made  him 
adopt  a  straggling  walk.  Some  chiefs  have  really  so 
many  as  to  be  forced,  by  the  weight  and  size,  to  keep 
one  foot  apart  from  the  other,  the  weight  being  a 
serious  inconvenience  in  walking. 

"  Manenko  gave  us  some  manioc  roots  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  had  determined  to  carry  our  baggage  to  her 
uncle's,  Kabompo  or  Shinte.  We  had  heard  a  sample 
of  what  she  could  do  with  her  tongue;  and  as  neither 
my  men  nor  myself  had  much  inclination  to  encomuo. 
a  scolding  from  this  black  Mrs.  Caudle,  we  made  ready 
the  packages ;  but  she  came  and  said  the  men  whom 
she  had  ordered  for  the  service  had  not  yet  come; 
they  would  arrive  to-morrow.  Being  on  low  and  dis- 
agreeable diet,  I  felt  snnoyed  at  this  further  delay,  and 
ordered  the  packages  to  be  put  into  the  canoes  to  pro- 
ceed up  the  river  without  her  servants;  but  Manenko 
was  not  to  be  circumvented  in  this  way ;  she  came  for- 
ward with  her  peop^,  and  said  hei  uncle  would  be 
angry  if  she  did  not  carry  forward  the  tusks  and  goods 
of  Sekeletu,  seized  the  luggage,  and  declared  that  she 
would  carry  it  in  spite  of  me.     My  men  succumbed 


UP  THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  163 

ftooner  to  this  petticoat  government  than  I  felt  inclined 
to  do,  and  left  me  no  power ;  and,  being  unwilling  to 
encounter  her  tongue,  I  was  moving  off  to  the  canoes, 
when  she  gave  me  a  kind  explanation,  and,  witli  her 
hand  on  my  shoulder,  put  on  a  motherly  look,  saying, 
1  Now,  my  little  man,  just  do  as  the  rest  have  done.' 
My  feelings  of  annoyance  of  course  vanished,  and  I 
went  out  to  try  and  get  some  meat. 

"  On  starting,  the  morning  of  the  11th,  Samoana  (or 
iather  Myamoana,  for  the  ladies  are  the  chiefs  here) 
presented  a  string  of  beads,  and  a  shell  highly  valued 
among  them,  as  an  atonement  for  having  assisted 
Manenko,  as  they  thought  to  vex  me  the  day  before. 
They  seemed  anxious  to  avert  any  evil  which  might 
arise  from  my  displeasure ;  but  having  replied  that  I 
never  kept  my  anger  up  all  night,  they  were  much 
pleased  to  see  me  satisfied.  We  had  to  cross,  in  a 
canoe,  a  stream  which  flows  past  the  village  of  Nya- 
moana.  .Manenko's  doctor  waved  some  charms  over 
her,  and  she  took  some  in  her  hand  and  on  her  body 
before  she  ventured  upon  the  water.  One  of  my  men 
spoke  rather  loudly  when  near  the  doctor's  basket  of 
medicines.  The  doctor  reproved  him,  and  always 
spoke  in  a  whisper  himself,  glancing  back  to  the  basket 
as  if  afraid  of  being  heard  by  something  therein.  So 
much  superstition  is  quite  unknown  in  the  south,  and 
is  mentioned  here  to  show  the  difference  in  the  feelings 
of  this  new  people,  and  the  comparative  wrant  of  rever- 
ence on  these  points  among  Kaffers  and  Bechuanas. 

"  Manenko  was  accompanied  by  her  husband  and 
her  drummer  ;  the  latter  continued  to  thump  most 
vigorously  until  a  heavy,  drizzling  mist  set  in  and  com- 


164:  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

pelled  him  to  desist.  Her  husband  used  various  incan- 
tations and  vociferations  to  drive  away  the  rain,  but 
down  it  poured  incessantly,  and  on  our  Amazon  went, 
in  the  very  lightest  marching  order,  and  at  a  pace  that 
few  of  the  men  could  keep  up  with.  Being  on  ox- 
back,  I  kept  pretty  close  to  our  leader,  and  asked  her 
why  she  did  not  clothe  herself  during  the  rain,  and 
learned  that  it  is  not  considered  proper  for  a  chief  to 
appear  effeminate.  He  or  she  must  always  wear  the 
appearance  of  robust  youth,  and  bear  vicissitudes  with- 
out wincing.  My  men,  in  admiration  of  her  pedestrian 
powers,  every  now  and  then  remarked,  i  Manenko  is  a 
soldier ; '  and  thoroughly  wet  and  cold,  we  were  all 
glad  when  she  proposed  a  halt  to  prepare  our  night's 
lodging  on  the  banks  of  a  stream. 

"  The  forests  became  more  dense  as  we  went 
north.  We  travelled  much  more  in  the  deep  gloom  of 
the  forest  than  in  open  sunlight.  No  passage  existed 
on  either  side  of  the  narrow  path  made  by  the  axe. 
Large  climbing  plants  entwined  themselves  around  the 
trunks  and  branches  of  gigantic  trees  like  boa  con- 
strictors, and  they  often  do  constrict  the  trees  by  which 
they  rise,  and,  killing  them,  stand  erect  themselves. 
The  bark  of  a  fine  tree  found  in  abundance  here,  and 
called  'motuia,'  is  used  by  the  Barotse  for  making  fish- 
lines  and  nets,  and  the  'molompi,'  so  well  adapted  for 
paddles  by  its  lightness  and  flexibility,  was  abund- 
ant. There  were  other  trees  quite  new  to  my  compan- 
ions ;  many  of  them  ran  up  to  a  height  of  fifty  feet  of 
one  thickness,  and  without  branches. 

"The  number  of  little  villages  seemed  about  equal 
to  the  number  of  valleys.     At  some  we  stopped  an  1 


UP  THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  165 

rested,  the  people  becoming  more  liberal  as  we  ad- 
vanced. Others  we  found  deserted,  a  sudden  panic 
having  seized  the  inhabitants,  though  the  drum  of 
Manenko  was  kept  beaten  pretty  constantly,  in  order 
to  give  notice  of  the  approach  of  great  people.  When 
we  had  decided  to  remain  for  the  night  at  any  village, 
the  inhabitants  lent  us  the  roofs  of  their  huts,  which  in 
form  resemble  those  of  the  Makololo,  or  a  Chinaman's 
hat,  and  can  be  taken  off  the  walls  at  pleasure.  They 
lifted  them  off,  and  brought  them  to  the  spot  we  had 
selected  as  our  lodging,  and,  when  my  men  had  propped 
them  up  with  stakes,  they  were  then  safely  housed  for 
the  night.  Every  one  who  comes  to  salute  either 
Manenko  or  ourselves  rubs  the  upper  parts  of  the  arms 
and  chest  with  ashes ;  those  who  wish  to  show  pro- 
founder  reverence  put  some  also  on  the  face. 

"  We  found  that  every  village  had  its  idols  near  it. 
This  is  the  case  all  through  the  country  of  the  Balonda, 
so  that,  when  we  came  to  an  idol  in  the  woods,  we 
always  knew  that  we  were  within  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
of  human  habitations.  One  very  ngly  idol  we  passed 
rested  on  a  horizontal  beam  placed  on  two  upright 
posts.  This  beam  was  furnished  with  two  loops  of 
cord,  as  of  a  chain,  to  suspend  offerings  before  it.  On 
remarking  to  my  companions  that  these  idols  had  ears, 
but  that  they  heard  not,  etc.,  I  learned  that  the  Balon- 
da, and  even  the  Barotse,  believe  that  divination  may 
be  performed  by  means  of  these  blocks  of  wood  and 
clay  !  and  though  the  wood  itself  could  not  hear,  the 
owners  had  medicines  by  which  it  could  be  made  to 
hear  and  give  responses,  so  that  if  an  enemy  were  ap- 
proaching they  would  have  full  information. 


1 QQ  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  UTH  AFRICA. 

"  While  delayed,  by  Manenko's  management, 
among  the  Balonda  villages,  a  little  to  the  south  of  the 
town  of  Shinte,  we  were  well  supplied  by  the  villagers 
with  sweet  potatoes  and  green  maize  ;  Sambanza  went 
to  his  mother's  village  for  supplies  of  other  food.  I 
was  laboring  under  fever,  and  did  not  find  it  very  dif- 
ficult to  exercise  patience  with  her  whims;  but  it  being 
Saturday,  I  thought  we  might  as  well  go  to  the  town 
for  Sunday  (15th).  '  No  ;  her  messenger  must  return 
from  her  uncle  first.'  Being  sure  that  the  answer  of 
the  uncle  would  be  favorable,  I  thought  we  might  go 
on  at  once,  and  not  lose  two  days  in  the  same  spot. 
*  No,  it  is  our  custom ; '  and  everything  else  I  could 
urge  was  answered  in  the  genuine  pertinacious  lady 
style.  She  ground  some  meal  for  me  with  her  own 
hands,  and  when  she  brought  it  told  me  she  had  actu- 
ally gone  to  a  village  and  begged  corn  for  the  purpose. 
She  said  this  with  an  air  as  if  the  inference  must  be 
drawn  by  even  a  stupid  wdiite  man  :  '  I  know  how  to 
manage,  don't  IV  It  was  refreshing  to  get  food  which 
could  be  eaten  without  producing  the  unpleasantness 
described  by  the  Rev.  John  Newton,  of  St.  Mary's, 
Woolnoth,  London,  when  obliged  to  eat  the  same  roots 
while  a  slave  in  the  West  Indies.  The  day  (January 
14),  for  a  wonder,  was  fair,  and  the  sun  shone,  so  as  to 
allow  us  to  dry  our  clothing  and  other  goods,  many  of 
which  were  mouldy  and  rotten  from  the  long-continued 
damp.  The  guns  rusted,  in  spite  of  being  oiled  cveiy 
evening. 

"During  the  night  we  were  all  awakened  bj  a  ter- 
rific shriek  from  one  of  Manenko's  ladies.  She  piped 
out  so  loud  and  long  that  we  all  imagined  she  had  been 


UP   THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  167 

seized  by  a  lion,  and  my  men  snatched  up  their  arms, 
which  they  always  place  so  as  to  be  ready  at  a  mo- 
ment's notice,  and  ran  to  the  rescue ;  but  we  found 
the  alarm  had  been  caused  by  one  of  the  oxen  thrust- 
ing his  head  into  her  hut  and  smelling  her :  she  had 
put  her  hand  on  his  cold,  wet  nose,  and  thought  it 
wfs  all  over  with  her. 

"  On  Sunday  afternoon  messengers  arrived  from 
Shinte,  expressing  his  approbation  of  the  objects  we 
had  in  view  in  our  journey  through  the  country,  and 
that  he  was  glad  of  the  prospect  of  a  way  being 
opened  by  which  white  men  might  visit  him,  and 
allow  him  to  purchase  ornaments  at  pleasure.  Ma- 
nenko  now  threatened  in  sport  to  go  on,  and  I  soon 
afterward  perceived  that  what  now  seemed  to  me  the 
dilly-dallying  way  of  this  lady  was  the  proper  mode 
of  making  acquaintance  with  the  Balonda;  and  much 
of  the  favor  with  which  I  was  received  in  different 
places  was  owing  to  my  sending  forward  messengers 
to  state  the  object  of  our  coming  before  entering  each 
town  and  village.  When  we  came  in  sight  of  a  village 
we  sat  down  under  the  shade  of  a  tree  and  sent  for- 
ward a  man  to  give  notice  who  we  were  and  what 
were  our  objects.  The  head  man  of  the  village  then 
sent  out  his  principal  men,  as  Shinte  now  did,  to  bid 
us  welcome  and  show  us  a  tree  under  which  we  might 
sleep.  Before  I  had  profited  by  the  rather  tedious 
teaching  of  Manenko,  I  sometimes  entered  a  village 
and  created  unintentional  alarm. 

"  Our  friends  informed  us  that  Shinte  would  be 
highly  honored  by  the  presence  of  three  white  men 
in  his  town  at  once.     Two  others  had  sent  forward 


168  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

notice  of  their  approach  from  another  quarter  (the 
west) ;  could  it  be  Barth  or  Krapf  ?  How  pleasant  to 
meet  with  Europeans  in  such  an  out-of-the-way  region  ! 
The  rush  of  thoughts  made  me  almost  forget  my 
fever.  Are  they  of  the  same  color  as  I  am  ?  4  Yes ; 
exactly  so.'  And  have  the  same  hair  ?  '  Is  that  hair  \ 
we  thought  it  was  a  wig ;  we  never  saw  the  like 
before;  this  white  man  must  be  of  the  sort  that  lives 
in  the  sea '  Henceforth  my  men  took  the  hint,  and 
always  sounded  my  praises  as  a  true  specimen  of  the 
variety  of  white  men  who  live  in  the  sea.  l  Only 
look  at  his  hair;  it  is  made  quite  straight  by  the 
sea- water ! ' 

"  As  the  strangers  had  woolly  hair  like  themselves, 
I  had  to  give  up  the  idea  of  meeting  anything  more 
European  than  twro  half  caste  Portuguese,  engaged  in 
trading  for  slaves,  ivory  and  bees'-wax. 

"  After  a  short  march  on  the  16th,  we  came  to  a 
most  lovely  valley  about  a  mile  and  a  half  wide,  and 
stretching  away  eastward  up  to  a  low  prolongation  of 
Monakadzi.  A  small  stream  meanders  down  the  cen- 
tre of  this  pleasant  green  glen :  and  on  a  little  rill, 
which  flows  into  it  from  the  western  side,  stands  the 
town  of  Kabompo,  or,  as  he  likes  best  to  be  called, 
Shinte.  (Lat.  12°  37'  S.,  Long.  22°  47'  E.)  When 
Manenko  thought  the  sun  was  high  enough  for  us  to 
make  a  lucky  entrance,  we  found  the  town  embowered 
in  banana  and  other  tropical  trees  having  great  expan- 
sion of  leaf;  the  streets  are  straight,  and  present  a 
complete  contrast  to  those  of  the  Bechuanas,  which  are 
all  very  tortuous.  Here,  too,  we  first  saw  native  lints 
with  square  walls  and  round  roofs.     The  fences  or  walls 


UP  THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  169 

of  the  courts  which  surround  the  huts  are  wonderfully 
straight,  and  made  of  upright  poles  a  few  inches  apart, 
with  strong  grass  or  leafy  bushes  neatly  woven  between. 
In  the  courts  were  small  plantations  of  tobacco,  and  a 
little  solanaceous  plant  which  the  lialonda  use  as  a  rel- 
ish;  also  sugar-cane  and  bananas. 

"  We  were  honored  next  day  with  a  grand  recep- 
tion by  Shinte  about  eleven  o'clock.  Sambanza  claimed 
the  honor  of  presenting  us,  Mancnko  being  slightly 
indisposed.  The  kotla,  or  place  of  audience,  was  about 
a  hundred  yards  square,  and  two  graceful  specimens 
of  a  species  of  banian  stood  near  one  end ;  under  one 
of  these  sat  Shinte,  on  a  sort  of  throne  covered  with  a 
leopard's  skin.  He  had  on  a  checked  jacket,  and  a 
kilt  of  scarlet  baize  edged  with  green ;  many  strings 
of  large  beads  hung  from  his  neck,  and  his  limbs  were 
covered  with  iron  and  copper  armlets  and  bracelets ; 
on  his  head  he  wore  a  helmet  made  of  beads  woven 
neatly  together,  and  crowned  with  a  great  bunch  of 
goose-feathers.  Close  to  him  sat  three  lads  with  large 
sheaves  of  arrows  over  their  shoulders. 

"  When  we  entered  the  kotla,  the  whole  of  Manen- 
ko's  party  saluted  Shinte  by  clapping  their  hands,  and 
Sambanza  did  obeisance  bv  rubbing  his  chest  and  arms 
with  ashes.  One  of  the  trees  being  unoccupied,  I  re- 
treated to  it  for  the  sake  of  the  shade,  and  my  whole 
party  did  the  same.  We  were  now  about  forty  yards 
from  the  chief,  and  could  see  the  whole  ceremony.  The 
different  sections  of  the  tribe  came  forward  in  the  same 
way  that  we  did,  the  head  man  of  each  making  obei- 
Bance  with  ashes  which  he  carried  with  him  for  the  pur- 
pose ;  then  came  the  soldiers,  all  armed  to  the  teeth,  run- 


170  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

ning  and  shouting  toward  us,  with  their  swords  drawn, 
and  their  faces  screwed  up  so  as  to  appear  as  savage  as 
possible,  for  the  purpose,  I  thought,  of  trying  whether 
they  could  not  make  us  take  to  our  heels.  As  we  did 
not,  they  turned  round  toward  Shinte  and  saluted  him, 
then  retired.  When  all  had  come  and  were  seated,  then 
began  the  curious  capering  usually  seen  in  pichos.  A 
man  starts  up.  and  imitates  the  most  approved  attitudes 
observed  in  actual  fight,  as  throwing  one  javelin,  receiv- 
ing another  on  the  shield,  springing  to  one  side  to  avoid 
a  third,  running  backward,  or  forward,  leaping,  etc. 
This  over,  Sambanza  and  the  spokesman  of  Nyamoana 
stalked  backward  and  forward  in  front  of  Shinte,  and 
gave  forth,  in  a  loud  voice,  all  they  had  been  able  to 
learn,  either  from  myself  or  people,  of  my  past  history 
and  connection  with  the  Makololo ;  the  return  of  the 
captives;  the  wish  to  open  the  country  to  trade ;  the 
Bible  as  a  word  from  heaven  ;  the  white  man's  desire 
for  the  tribes  to  live  in  peace  :  he  ought  to  have  taught 
the  Makololo  that  first,  for  the  Balonda  never  attacked 
them,  yet  they  had  assailed  the  Balonda :  perhaps  he 
is  fibbing,  perhaps  not;  they  rather  thought  lie  was; 
but  as  the  Balonda  had  good  hearts,  and  Shinte  had 
never  done  harm  to  any  one,  he  had  better  receive  the 
white  man  well,  and  send  him  on  his  way. 

"When  nine  speakers  had  concluded  their  orations, 
Shinte  stood  up,  and  so  did  all  the  people,  lie  had 
maintained  true  African  dignity  of  manner  all  the 
while,  but  my  people  remarked  that  he  scarcely  ever 
took  liis  eyes  off  me  for  a  moment.  About  a  thousand 
people  were  present,  according  to  niv  calculation,  and 
three  hundred  soldiers.     The  sun  had  now   become 


UP  THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  171 

hot ;  and  the  scene  ended  by  the  Mambari  discharging 
their  gnns. 

"  We  were  awakened  the  following  night  by  a 
message  from  Shinte,  requesting  a  visit  at  a  very  un- 
seasonable hour.  As  I  was  just  in  the  sweating  stage 
of  an  intermittent,  and  the  path  to  the  town  lay 
through  a  wet  valley,  I  declined  going.  Kolimbota, 
who  knows  their  customs  best,  urged  me  to  go;  but, 
independent  of  sickness,  I  hated  words  of  the  night 
and  deeds  of  darkness.  'I  was  neither  a  hyena  nor  a 
witch.'  Kolimbota  thought  that  we  ou^ht  to  conform 
to  their  wishes  in  everything :  I  thought  we  ought  to 
have  some  choice  in  the  matter  as  well,  which  put  him 
into  high  dudgeon.  However,  at  ten  next  morning 
we  went,  and  were  led  into  the  courts  of  Shinte,  the 
walls  of  which  were  woven  rods,  all  very  neat  and 
high.  Many  trees  stood  within  the  inclosure,  and 
afforded  a  grateful  shade.  These  had  been  planted 
for  we  saw  some  recently  put  in,  with  grass  wound 
round  the  trunk  to  protect  them  from  the  sun.  The 
otherwise  waste  corners  of  the  streets  were  planted 
with  sugar-cane  and  bananas,  which  spread  their  large 
light  leaves  over  the  walls. 

"  The  Ficus  Indica  tree,  under  which  we  now  sat, 
had  very  .arge  leaves,  but  showed  its  relationship  to 
the  Indian  banian  by  sending  down  shoots  toward 
the  ground.  Shinte  soon  came,  and  appeared  a  man 
of  upward  of  fifty-live  years  of  age,  of  frank  and  open 
countenance,  and  about  the  middle  height.  He  seemed 
in  good  humor,  and  said  he  had  expected  yesterday 
*  that  a  man  who  came  from  the  gods  wTould  have 
approached  and  talked  to  him.'     That  had  been  my 


172  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

own  intention  in  going  to  the  reception ;  but  when 
we  came  and  saw  the  formidable  preparations,  aid  all 
his  own  men  keeping  at  least  forty  yards  off  from  him, 
1  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  my  men,  and  remained 
by  the  tree  opposite  to  that  under  which  he  sat.  His 
remark  confirmed  my  previous  belief  that  a  frank, 
open,  fearless,  manner  is  the  most  winning  with  all 
these  Africans.  I  stated  the  object  of  my  journey  and 
mission,  and  to  all  I  advanced  the  old  gentleman  clap- 
ped his  hands  in  approbation.  He  replied  through  a 
spokesman ;  then  all  the  company  joined  in  the  re- 
sponse by  clapping  of  hands,  too. 

"  After  the  more  serious  business  was  over,  I 
asked  if  he  had  ever  seen  a  white  man  before.  He 
replied,  'Never;  you  are  the  very  first  I  have  seen 
with  a  white  skin  and  straight  hair;  your  clothing, 
too,  is  different  from  any  we  have  ever  seen.'  They 
had  been  visited  by  native  Portuguese  and  Mambari 
only. 

"  On  learning  from  some  of  the  people  that 
'Shinte's  mouth  was  bitter  for  want  of  tasting  ox- 
flesh,'  I  presented  him  with  an  ox,  to  his  great  de- 
light; and,  as  his  country  is  so  well  adapted  for  cattle, 
I  advised  him  to  begin  a  trade  in  cows  with  the 
Makololo.  He  was  pleased  with  the  idea,  and  when 
we  returned  from  Loanda,  we  found  that  he  had  prof 
ited  by  the  hint,  for  he  had  got  three,  and  one  of 
them  justified  my  opinion  cf  the  country,  for  it  wa* 
more  like  a  prize  heifer  for  fatness  than  any  we  had 
seen  in  Africa.  He  soon  afterward  sent  us  a  basket 
of  green  maize  boiled,  another  of  manioc-meal,  and  a 
small  fowl. 


UP  THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  173 

"  I  was  awakened  at  an  early  hour  by  a  messenger 
from  Sliinte ;  but  the  thirst  of  a  raging  fever  being 
just  assuaged  by  the  bursting  forth  of  a  copious  per- 
spiration, I  declined  going  for  a  few  hours.  Violent 
action  of  the  heart  all  the  way  to  the  town  did  not 
predispose  me  to  be  patient  with  the  delay  which 
then  occurred,  probably  on  account  of  the  divination 
being  unfavorable:  'They  could  not  find  Shinte.' 
When  I  returned  to  bed,  another  message  was  re- 
ceived, '  Shinte  wished  to  say  all  lie  had  to  tell  me 
at  once.'  This  was  too  tempting  an  offer,  so  we  went, 
and  he  had  a  fowl  ready  in  his  hand  to  present,  also  a 
basket  of  manioc-meal,  and  a  calabash  of  mead.  Re- 
ferring to  the  constantly-recurring  attacks  of  fever,  he 
remarked  that  it  was  the  only  thing  which  would  pre- 
vent a  successful  issue  to  my  journey,  for  he  had  men 
to  guide  me  who  knew  all  the  paths  which  led  to  the 
white  men.  He  had  himself  travelled  far  when  a 
young  man.  On  asking  what  he  would  recommend 
for  the  fever,  '  Drink  plenty  of  the  mead,  and  as  it 
gets  in,  it  will  drive  the  fever  out.'  It  was  rather 
6trong,  and  I  suspect  he  liked  the  remedy  pretty  well, 
even  though  he  had  no  fever. 

"  Shinte  was  most  anxious  to  see  the  pictures  of 
the  magic  lantern ;  but  fever  had  so  weakening  an  ef- 
fect, and  I  had  such  violent  action  of  the  heart,  with 
buzzing  in  the  ears,  that  I  could  not  go  for  several 
days ;  when  I  did  go  for  the  purpose,  he  had  his  prin- 
cipal men  and  the  same  crowd  of  court-beauties  near 
him  as  at  the  reception.  The  first  picture  exhibited 
was  Abraham  about  to  slaughter  his  son  Isaac ;  it  was 
shown  as  large  as  life,  and  the  uplifted  knife  was  in 


174  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

the  act  of  striking  the  lad;  the  Balonda  men  re- 
marked that  the  picture  was  much  more  like  a  god 
than  the  things  of  wood  or  clay  they  worshipped.  I 
explained  that  this  man  was  the  first  of  a  race  to 
whom  God  had  given  the  Bible  we  now  held,  and 
that  among  his  children  onr  Saviour  appeared.  The 
ladies  listened  with  silent  awe;  but,  when  I  moved 
the  slide,  the  uplifted  dagger  moving  toward  them, 
they  thought  it  was  to  be  sheathed  in  their  bodies  in- 
stead of  Isaac's.  '  Mother !  mother  ! '  all  shouted  at 
once,  and  off  they  rushed  helter-skelter,  tumbling  pell- 
mell  over  each  other,  and  over  the  little  idol-huts  and 
tobacco-bushes :  we  could  not  get  one  of  them  back 
again.  Shinte,  however,  sat  bravely  through  the 
whole,  and  afterward  examined  the  instrument  with 
interest.  An  explanation  was  always  added  after 
each  time  of  showing  its  powers,  so  that  no  one 
should  imagine  there  was  aught  supernatural  in  it ; 
and  had  Mr.  Murray,  who  kindly  brought  it  from  Eng- 
land, seen  its  popularity  among  both  Makololo  and 
Balonda,  he  would  have  been  gratified  with  the  di- 
rection his  generosity  then  took.  It  was  the  only 
mode  of  instruction  I  was  ever  pressed  to  repeat 
The  people  came  long  distances  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  seeing  the  objects  and  hearing  the  explana- 
tions." 

Livingstone  remained  ten  days  in  the  town  of 
Shinte,  resting  his  party,  and  making  preparations  tor 
the  journe)  westward  towards  the  Portuguese  terri- 
tory. This  was  likely  to  be  the  most  hazardous  part 
Df  the  trip,  since  the  natives  themselves  were  not 
acquainted    with    the   regions  beyond  those  they  in- 


UP  THE  LEEBA  RIVER.  175 

habited.  The  chief  interposed  no  obstacle,  for  half- 
breed  traders  from  Loando  sometimes  reached  his 
town  ;  but  he  could  only  furnish  guides  for  a  short 
distance. 

"  As  the  last  proof  of  friendship,"  Livingstone  says, 
"  Shinte  came  into  my  tent,  though  it  could  scarcely 
contain  more  than  one  person,  looked  at  all  the  curi 
osities,  the  quicksilver,  the  looking-glass,  books,  hair 
brushes,  comb,  watch,  etc.,  etc.,  with  the  greatest  inter- 
est; then  closing  the  tent,  so  that  none  of  his  own 
people  might  see  the  extravagance  of  which  he  was 
about  to  be  guilty,  he  drew  out  from  his  clothing  a 
string  of  beads,  and  the  end  of  a  conical  shell,  which  is 
considered,  in  regions  far  from  the  sea,  of  as  great 
value  as  the  Lord  Mayor's  badge  is  in  London.  He 
hung  it  round,  my  neck,  and  said,  *  There,  now  you 
have  a  proof  of  my  friendship.' 

M  My  men  informed  me  that  these  shells  are  so 
highly  valued  in  this  quarter,  as  evidences  of  distinc- 
tion, that  for  two  of  them  a  slave  might  be  bought, 
and  five  would  be  considered  a  handsome  price  for  an 
elephant's  tusk  worth  ten  pounds.  At  our  last  in- 
terview old  Shinte  pointed  out  our  principal  guide, 
Tntemese,  a  man  about  fifty,  who  was,  he  said,  ordered 
to  remain  by  us  till  we  should  reach  the  sea ;  that  I 
had  now  left  Sekeletu  far  behind,  and  must  henceforth 
look  to  Shinte  alone  for  aid,  and  that  it  would  always 
be  most  cheerfully  rendered.  This  was  only  a  poiite 
way  of  expressing  his  wishes  for  my  success.  It  was 
the  good  words  only  of  the  guides  which  were  to  aid  ma 
from  the  next  chief,  Katema,  on  to  the  sea ;  they  were 
to  turn  back  on  reaching  him  ;  but  he  gave  a  good  sup- 


176  TRA  VEL  S  IN  SO  U  Til  A  FRICA . 

ply  of  food  for  the  journey  before  us,  and,  after  men- 
tioning as  a  reason  for  letting  us  go  even  now  that  no 
one  could  say  we  had  been  driven  away  from  the  town, 
since  we  had  been  several  days  with  him,  he  gave  a 
most  hearty  salutation,  and  we  parted  with  the  w* 
that  God  might  bless  him." 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Livingstone's  journey  across  the  con  tinent. 

IV. FROM    SHINTE    TO    LOANDA. 

THE  party  left  the  town  of  Shinte  on  the  26th  of 
January,  with  eight  of  the  chiefs  men  to  assist 
in  carrying  their  luggage.  We  continue  the  narrative 
in  Livingstone's  words : 

"  We  passed,  in  a  northerly  direction,  down  the 
lovely  valley  on  which  the  town  stands,  then  went  a 
little  to  the  west  through  pretty  open  forest,  and  slept 
at  a  village  of  Balonda.  In  the  morning  we  had  a 
fine  range  of  green  hills,  called  Saloisho,  on  our  right, 
and  were  'informed  that  they  were  rather  thickly  in- 
habited by  the  people  of  Shinte,  who  worked  in  iron, 
the  ore  of  which  abounds  in  these  hills. 

"  The  country  through  which  we  passed  possessed 
<;he  same  general  character  of  flatness  and  forest  that 
we  noticed  before.  The  soil  is  dark,  with  a  tinge  of 
red — in  some  places  it  might  be  called  red — and  ap- 
peared very  fertile.  Every  valley  contained  villages 
of  twenty  or  thirty  huts,  with  gardens  of  manioc, 
which  here  is  looked  upon  as  the  staff  of  life.  Very 
little  labor  is  required  for  its  cultivation. 

"  Our  chief  guide,  Intemese,  sent  orders  to  all  the 
villages  around  our  route  that  Shinte's  friends  must 
have   abundance   of    provisions.     Our    progress   was 
12 


178  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  UTH  AFRICA. 

impeded  by  the  time  requisite  for  communicating  the 
chiefs  desire  and  consequent  preparation  of  meal. 
We  received  far  more  food  from  Shinte's  people  than 
from  himself.  Kapende,  for  instance,  presented  two 
large  baskets  of  meal,  three  of  manioc  roots  steeped 
and  dried  in  the  sun  and  ready  to  be  converted  into 
tlour,  three  fowls,  and  seven  eggs,  with  three  smoke- 
dried  fishes ;  and  others  gave  with  similar  liberality. 
I  gave  to  the  head  men  small  bunches  of  my  stock  of 
beads,  with  an  apology  that  we  were  now  on  our  way 
to  the  market  for  these  goods.  The  present  was  al- 
ways politely  received. 

"We  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  that  our 
guides  had  much  more  etiquette  than  any  of  the  tribes 
farther  south.  They  gave  us  food,  but  would  not  par- 
take of  it  when  we  had  cooked  it,  nor  would  they  eat 
their  own  food  in  our  presence.  When  it  was  cooked 
they  retired  into  a  thicket  and  ate  their  porridge; 
then  all  stood  up,  and  clapped  their  hands,  and  praised 
Inteinese  for  it.  The  Makololo,  who  are  accustomed 
to  the  most  free-and-easy  manners,  held  out  handfuls 
of  what  they  had  cooked  to  any  of  the  Balonda  near, 
but  they  refused  to  taste.  They  are  very  punctilious 
in  their  manners  to  each  other.  Each  hut  has  its  own 
fire,  and  when  it  goes  out  they  make  it  afresh  for 
themselves  rather  than  take  it  from  a  neighbor,  I 
believe  much  of  this  arises  from  superstitions  fears. 
In  the  deep,  dark  forests  near  each  village,  as  aire 
mentioned,  you  see  idols  intended  to  represent  the 
human  head  or  a  lion,  or  a  crooked  stick  Bin  eared  with 
medicine,  or  simply  a  small  pot  of  medicine  in  a  little 
shed,  or  miniature  huts  with  little  mounds  of  earth 


FROM  SHINTE  TO  LOANDA.  179 

in  them.  But  in  the  darker  recesses  we  meet  with 
human  faces  cut  in  the  bark  of  trees,  the  outlines  of 
which,  with  the  beards,  closely  resemble  those  seen 
on  Egyptian  monuments." 

After  a  journey  of  five  days  they  reached  the  Leeba 
river,  which  Livingstone  found  to  be  considerably 
smaller  than  at  the  point  where  he  left  it.  A  village 
on  the  bank  lent  his  men  two  canoes  for  the  crossing, 
which  occupied  four  hours,  although  the  stream  was 
only  about  a  hundred  yards  wide.  The  latitude  of 
the  point  was  12°  6'  S.  Beyond  the  Leeba,  they  came 
upon  a  plain,  twenty  miles  wide,  and  flooded  with 
water.  The  heavy  tropical  rains  continued,  and  the 
path  for  several  days  was  such  a  succession  of  quag- 
mires and  pools  that  their  progress  wras  very  slow. 
At  night  they  were  obliged  to  seek  some  little  hillock 
or  mound,  above  the  general  inundation,  for  an  en- 
campment. 

This  region  is  threaded  by  many  branches  of  the 
Leeba,  some  of  which,  as  there  were  no  canoes,  the 
party  was  obliged  to  ford,  the  water  often  covering  all 
of  the  oxen  except  their  lifted  heads.  Livingstone 
was  obliged  to  carry  his  watch  in  his  arm-pit,  as  the 
only  place  where  it  could  be  kept  dry.  The  guides 
furnished  by  Shinte  had  orders  to  conduct  him  to  the 
town  of  a  chief  named  Katema,  and  on  the  7th  of  Feb- 
ruary, he  reached  a  village  belonging  to  that  chiefs 
brother.  The  latter  said  that  the  white  man  was  wel- 
come, but  was  much  disturbed  by  the  presence  of  the 
Makololo.  However,  he  seemed  much  more  anxious 
to  receive  presents  than  to  furnish  provisions. 

For   five  or  six   days  longer  the  party  were   led, 


1 80  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  UTH  AFRICA. 

through  the  tricks  of  Shinte's  guide,  who  wished  to 
derive  some  profit  for  himself  from  the  journey,  from 
one  village  to  another.  Fortunately,  some  of  the  chiefs 
were  more  generous  than  the  first,  and  the  men  were 
al  last  tolerably  well  supplied  with  food.  On  the  13th 
of  February  they  crossed  the  river  Lotembwa,  the  last 
of  the  affluents  of  the  Leeba,  after  which — to  return  to 
Livingstone's  narrative — "  we  travelled  about  eight 
miles,  and  came  to  Katema's  straggling  town  (lat.  11° 
35'  S.,  long.  22°  27 '  E.).  It  is  more  a  collection  of 
vi  Pages  than  a  town.  We  were  led  out  about  half  a 
mile  from  the  houses,  that  we  might  make  for  our- 
selves the  best  lodging  we  could  of  the  trees  and  grass, 
while  Intemese  was  taken  to  Katema  to  undergo  the 
usual  process  of  pumping  as  to  our  past  conduct  and 
professions.  Katema  soon  afterward  sent  a  handsome 
present  of  food. 

"Next  morning  we  had  a  formal  presentation, 
and  found  Katema  seated  on  a  sort  of  throne,  with 
about  three  hundred  men  on  the  ground  around,  and 
thirty  women,  who  were  said  to  be  his  wives,  close 
behind  him.  The  main  body  of  the  people  were 
seated  in  a  semicircle,  at  a  distance  of  fifty  yards. 
Each  party  had  its  own  head-man  stationed  at  a  little 
distance  in  front,  and,  when  beckoned  by  the  chief, 
came  near  him  as  councilors.  Intemese  gave  our 
history,  and  Katema  placed  sixteen  large  baskets  of 
meal  before  us,  half-a-dozen  fowls,  and  a  dozen  eg 
and  expressed  regret  that  we  had  slept  hungry:  he 
did  not  like  any  stranger  to  suffer  want  in  his  town; 
■and  added,  'Go  home,  and  cook  and  eat,  and  you  wiL 
then  be  in  a  fit  state  to  speak  to  me  at  an  audience  I 


FROM  SHINTE   TO  LOANDA.  181 

will  give  you  to-morrow.'  He  was  busily  engaged  in 
hearing  the  statements  of  a  large  body  of  fine  young 
men  who  had  fled  from  Kangenke,  chief  of  Lobale, 
on  account  of  his  selling  their  relatives  to  the  native 
Portuguese  who  frequent  his  country.  Katema  is  a 
tall  man,  about  forty  years  of  age,  and  his  head  was 
ornamented  with  a  helmet  of  beads  and  leathers.  He 
had  on  a  snuff-brown  coat,  with  a  broad  band  of  tinsel 
down  the  arms,  and  carried  in  his  hand  a  large  tail 
made  of  the  caudal  extremities  of  a  number  of  gnus. 
This  has  charms  attached  to  it,  and  he  continued 
waving  it  in  front  of  himself  all  the  time  we  were 
there.  He  seemed  in  good  spirits,  laughing  heartily 
several  times.  This  is  a  good  sign,  for  a  man  who 
shakes  his  sides  with  mirth  is  seldom  difficult  to  deal 
with.  When  we  rose  to  take  leave,  all  rose  with  us, 
as  at  Shinte's. 

"  Returning  next  morning,  Katema  addressed  me 
thus :  '  I  am  the  great  Moene  (lord)  Katema,  the  fel- 
low of  Matiamvo.  There  is  no  one  in  the  country 
equal  to  Matiamvo  and  me.  I  have  always  lived  here, 
and  my  forefathers  too.  There  is  the  house  in  which 
my  father  lived.  You  found  no  human  skulls  near 
the  place  where  you  are  encamped.  I  never  killed 
any  of  the  traders ;  they  all  come  to  me.  I  am  the 
great  Moene  Katema,  of  whom  you  have  heard.'  He 
looked  as  if  he  had  fallen  asleep  tipsy,  and  dreamed 
of  his  greatness.  On  explaining  my  objects  to  htm, 
he  promptly  pointed  out  three  men  who  would  be  our 
guides,  and  explained  that  the  north-west  path  was  the 
most  direct,  and  that  by  which  all  traders  came,  but 
that  the  water  at  present  standing  on  the  plains  would 


182  'J  *A  VELS  IN  SO  V  Til  AFRICA. 

reach  up  to  the  loins ;  lie  would  therefore  send  us  by 
a  more  northerly  route,  which  no  trader  had  yet 
traversed.  This  was  more  suited  to  our  wishes,  for 
we  never  found  a  path  safe  that  had  been  trodden  by 
slave-traders. 

"  We  presented  a  few  articles,  which  pleased  him 
highly  :  a  small  shawl,  a  razor,  three  bunches  of  beads, 
some  buttons,  and  a  powder-horn.  Apologizing  for 
the  insignificance  of  the  gift,  I  wished  to  know  what  J 
could  bring  him  from  Loanda,  saying,  not  a  largo 
thing,  but  something  small.  He  laughed  heartily  at 
the  limitation,  and  replied,  '  Everything  of  the  white 
people  would  be  acceptable,  and  he  would  receive  any 
thing  thankfully ;  but  the  coat  he  then  had  on  was 
old,  and  he  would  like  another.'  I  introduced  the 
subject  of  the  Bible,  but  one  of  the  old  councilors 
broke  in,  told  all  he  had  picked  up  from  the  Mambari, 
and  glided  off  into  several  other  subjects.  It  is  a 
misery  to  speak  through  an  interpreter,  as  I  was  now 
forced  to  do.  With  a  body  of  men  like  mine,  com- 
posed as  they  were  of  six  different  tribes,  and  all 
speaking  the  language  of  the  Bechuanas,  there  was  no 
difficulty  in  communicating  on  common  subjects  with 
any  tribe  we  came  to;  but  doling  out  a  story  in  which 
they  felt  no  interest,  and  which  I  understood  only  suf- 
ficiently well  to  perceive  that  a  mere  abridgement  was 
given,  was  uncommonly  slow  work.  Neither  could 
Katema's  attention  be  arrested,  except  by  compli- 
ments, of  which  they  have  always  plenty  to  bestow  as 
well  as  receive.  We  wore  Grangers,  and  knew  that,  as 
Makololo,  we  had  not  the  best  of  characters,  yet  hia 
treatment  of  us  was  wonderfully  good  and  liberal. 


FROM  SHINTE   TO  LOANDA.  [83 

"  I  complimented  him  on  the  possession  of  cattle, 
and  pleased  him  by  telling  him  how  he  might  milk 
the  cows.  He  has  a  herd  of  about  thirty,  really  splen- 
did animals,  all  reared  from  two  which  he  bought  from 
the  Balobale  when  he  was  young.  They  are  gener- 
illy  of  a  white  color,  and  are  quite  wild,  running  off 
with  graceful  ease  like  a  herd  of  elands  on  the  ap- 
proach of  a  stranger.  They  excited  the  unbounded 
admiration  of  the  Makololo,  and  clearly  proved  that 
the  country  was  well  adapted  for  them.  When  Katema 
wishes  to  slaughter  one,  he  is  obliged  to  shoot  it  as  if 
it  were  a  buffalo. 

"  Katema  promised  us  the  aid  of  some  of  his  people 
as  carriers,  but  his  rule  is  not  very  stringent  or  effi- 
cient, for  they  refused  to  turn  out  for  the  work.  They 
were  Balobale ;  and  he  remarked  on  their  disobedi- 
ence that,  though  he  received  them  as  fugitives,  they 
did  not  feel  grateful  enough  to  obey,  and  if  they  con- 
tinued rebellious  he  must  drive  them  back  whence 
they  came ;  but  there  is  little  fear  of  that,  as  all  the 
chiefs  are  excessively  anxious  to  collect  men  in  great 
numbers  around  them.  These  Balobale  would  not  go, 
though  our  guide  Shakatwala  ran  after  some  of  them 
with  a  drawn  sword. 

"  On  Sunday,  the  19th,  both  I  and  several  of  our 
party  were  seized  with  fever,  and  I  could  do  nothing 
but  toss  about  in  my  little  tent,  with  the  thermometer 
above  00°,  though  this  was  the  beginning  of  winter, 
and  my  men  made  as  much  shade  as  possible  by 
planting  branches  of  trees  all  around  and  over  it.  Wo 
have,  for  the  first  time  in  my  experience  in  Africa,  had 
a  cold  wind  from  the  north.     All  the  winds  from  that 


184  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

quarter  are  hot,  and  those  from  the  south  are  cold,  but 
they  seldom  blow  from  either  direction. 

"  We  were  glad  to  get  away  the  next  day,  though 
not  on  account  of  any  scarcity  of  food  ;  for  my  men,  by 
giving  small  presents  of  meat  as  an  earnest  of  their  sin 
cerity,  formed  many  friendships  with  the  people  of  Ka- 
tema.  We  went  about  four  or  five  miles  in  a  N.N.W. 
direction,  then  two  in  a  westerly  one,  and  came 
round  the  small  end  of  Lake  Dilolo.  It  seemed,  as  far 
as  we  could  at  this  time  discern,  to  be  like  a  river  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  wide.  It  is  abundantly  supplied  with 
fish  and  hippopotami ;  the  broad  part,  which  we  did 
not  this  time  see,  is  about  three  miles  wide,  and  the 
lake  is  almost  seven  or  eight  long.  If  it  be  thought 
strange  that  I  did  not  go  a  few  miles  to  see  the  broad 
part,  which,  according  to  Katema,  had  never  been  vis- 
ited by  any  of  the  traders,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
in  consequence  of  fever  I  had  eaten  nothing  for  two 
entire  days,  and,  instead  of  sleep,  the  whole  of  the 
nights  were  employed  in  incessant  drinking  of  water, 
and  I  was  now  so  glad  to  get  x>n  in  the  journey  and  see 
6ome  of  my  fellow  fever-patients  crawling  along,  that 
I  could  not  brook  the  delay,  which  astronomical  obser- 
vations for  accurately  determining  the  geographic*] 
position  of  this  most  interesting  spot  would  have  occa- 
sioned." 

Beyond  this  lake,  they  crossed  a  marshy  plain, 
twenty  miles  in  breadth.  The  heavy  rains  still  contin- 
ued, and  the  feet  of  the  men  became  sore  from  wading 
in  water  and  mud  among  the  Strong  grass.  The  coun- 
try which  followed  was  under  the  rule  of  another  chief, 
whom,  however,  Livingstone  did  not  wait  to  see.    From 


FROM  SHINTE   TO  LOANDA.  )  85 

this  point  commenced  the  territories  of  small,  scattered 
and  often  hostile  tribes,  which  have  been  demoralized 
by  the  slave-trade. 

"On  reaching  unflooded  lands  beyond  the  plain, 
we  found  the  villages  there  acknowledged  the  anther- 
ity  of  the  chief  named  Katende,  and  we  discovered,  also, 
to  our  surprise,  that  the  almost  level  plain  we  had  pas- 
sed forms  the  water- shed  between  the  southern  and 
northern  rivers,  for  we  had  nowT  entered  a  district  in 
which  the  rivers  flowed  in  a  northerly  direction  into 
the  Kasai  or  Loke,  near  to  which  we  now  were,  while 
the  rivers  we  had  hitherto  crossed  were  all  running 
southward.  Having  met  with  kind  treatment  and  aid 
at  the  first  village,  Katema's  guides  returned,  and  we 
were  led  to  the  N.N.W.  by  the  inhabitants,  and  de- 
scended into  the  very  first  really  deep  valley  we  had 
seen  since  leaving  Kolobeng.  A  stream  ran  along  the 
bottom  of  a  slope  of  three  or  four  hundred  yards  from 
the  plains  above."  This  was  crossed  by  a  bridge,  and 
also  many  of  the  following  streams,  and  at  some  of 
them  the  natives  demanded  toll. 

"Reaching  the  village  of  Kabinje,  in  the  evening 
he  sent  us  a  present  of  tobacco,  Mutokuane  or  'bang' 
(Cannahis  sativa),  and  maize,  by  the  man  who  went 
forward  to  announce  our  arrival,  and  a  message  express- 
ing satisfaction  at  the  prospect  of  having  trade  with  the 
zoast.  The  westing  we  were  making  brought  us 
among  people  who  are  frecpiently  visited  by  the  Mam- 
'  bari  as  slave-dealers.  This  trade  causes  bloodshed ; 
for  when  a  poor  family  is  selected  as  the  victims,  it  is 
necessary  to  get  rid  of  the  older  members  of  it,  because 
they  are  supposed  to  be  able  to  give  annoyance  to  the 


186  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  UTH  AFRICA. 

chief  afterward  by  means  of  enchantments.  The  belief 
in  the  power  of  charms  for  good  or  evil  produces  not 
only  honesty,  but  a  great  amount  of  gentle  dealing. 

"  When  we  wished  to  move  on,  Ivabinje  refused  a 
guide  to  the  next  village  because  he  was  at  war  with 
it;  but,  after  much  persuasion  he  consented,  provided 
that  the  guide  should  be  allowed  to  return  as  soon  as 
he  came  in  sight  of  the  enemy's  village.  This  we  felt 
to  be  a  misfortune,  as  the  people  all  suspect  a  man  who 
comes  telling  his  own  tale ;  but  there  being  no  help 
for  it,  we  went  on  and  found  the  head  man  of  a  village 
on  the  rivulet  Kalomba,  called  Kangenke,  a  very  differ- 
ent man  from  what  his  enemy  represented.  We  found, 
too,  that  the  idea  of  buying  and  selling  took  the  place 
of  giving  for  friendship.  As  I  had  nothing  with  which 
to  purchase  food  except  a  parcel  of  beads  which  were 
preserved  for  worse  times,  I  began  to  fear  that  we 
should  soon  be  compelled  to  suffer  more  from  hunger 
than  we  had  done.  The  people  demanded  gunpow- 
der for  everything.  If  we  had  possessed  any  quantity 
of  that  article,  we  should  have  got  on  well,  for  here 
it  is  of  great  value. 

"  Kangenke  promptly  furnished  guides  on  the  '2 7th 
of  February,  so  we  went  briskly  on  a  short  distance, 
and  came  to  a  part  of  the  Kasye,  Kasai,  or  Loke,  where 
lie  had  appointed  two  canoes  to  convey  us  acr 
This  is  a  most  beautiful  river,  and  very  much  like  the 
Clyde  in  Scotland.  The  slope  of  the  valley  down  to 
the  stream  is  about  five  hundred  yards,  and  finely 
wooded.  It  is,  perhaps,  one  hundred  yards  broad,  and 
was  winding  slowly  from  side  to  side  in  the  beautiful 
green  glen,  in  a  course  to  the  north  and  north-east.     Iu 


FROM  SHINTE  TO  LOANDA.  187 

both  the  directions  from  which  it  came  and  to  which 
it  went  it  seemed  to  be  alternately  embowered  in  syl- 
van vegetation,  or  rich  meadows  covered  with  tail 
grass.  The  men  pointed  out  its  course,  and  said, 
*  Though  you  sail  along  it  for  months,  you  will  turn 
without  seeing  the  end  of  it.' 

"  We  were  now  in  want  of  food,  for,  to  the  greal 
surprise  of  my  companions,  the  people  of  Kangenke 
gave  nothing  except  by  way  of  sale,  and  charged  the 
most  exorbitant  prices  for  the  little  meal  and  manioc 
they  brought.  The  only  article  of  barter  my  men 
had  was  a  little  fat  saved  from  the  ox  we  slaughtered 
at  Katema's,  so  I  was  obliged  to  give  them  a  portion 
of  the  stock  of  beads.  One  day  of  westing  brought 
us  from  the  Kasai  to  near  the  village  of  Katende,  and 
we  saw  that  we  were  in  a  land  where  no  hope  could 
be  entertained  of  getting  supplies  of  animal  food,  for 
one  of  our  guides  caught  a  light-blue  colored  mole  and 
two  mice  for  his  supper.  The  care  with  which  he 
wrapped  them  up  in  a  leaf  and  slung  them  on  his  spear 
told  that  we  could  not  hope  to  enjoy  any  larger  game. 
We  saw  no  evidence  of  any  animals  besides ;  and,  on 
coming  to  the  villages  beyond  this,  we  often  saw  boys 
and  girls  engaged  in  digging  up  these  tiny  quadru- 
peds. 

%i  Katende  sent  for  me  on  the  day  following  our 
arrival,  and,  being  quite  willing  to  visit  him,  I  walked, 
for  this  purpose,  about  three  miles  from  our  encamp- 
ment. When  we  approached  the  village  we  were 
desired  to  enter  a  hut,  and,  as  it  was  raining  at  the 
time,  we  did  so.  After  a  long  time  spent  in  giving 
and  receiving  messages  from  the  great  man,  we  were 


188  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  UTH  AFRICA. 

told  that  lie  wanted  either  a  man,  a  tusk,  beads,  copper 
rings,  or  a  shell,  as  payment  for  leave  to  pass  through 
his  country.  No  one,  we  were  assured,  was  allowed 
that  liberty,  or  even  to  behold  him,  without  something 
of  the  sort  being  presented.  Having  humbly  ex- 
plained our  circumstances,  and  that  he  could  not 
expect  to  '  catch  a  humble  cow  by  the  horns' — a  prov- 
erb similar  to  ours  that  'you  can't  draw  milk  out  of  a 
stone' — we  were  told  to  go  home,  and  he  would  speak 
again  to  us  next  day.  I  could  not  avoid  a  hearty 
laugh  at  the  cool  impudence  of  the  savage,  and  made 
the  best  of  my  way  home  in  the  still  pouring  rain. 
My  men  were  rather  nettled  at  this  want  of  hospi- 
tality, but,  after  talking  over  the  matter  with  one  o( 
Katende's  servants,  he  proposed  that  some  small  article 
should  be  given,  and  an  attempt  made  to  please  Ka- 
tende.  I  turned  out  my  shirts,  and  selected  the  worst 
one  as  a  sop  for  him,  and  invited  Katende  to  come 
and  choose  anything  else  I  had." 

It  was  with  some  difficulty  that  the  party  got  away 
from  this  unfriendly  and  avaricious  chief.  When  the 
villages  were  fairly  behind  them,  the  native  guides 
declared  that  they  did  not  know  the  country,  and  left 
Livingstone  to  push  forward  at  random  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Loanda.  The  first. day  they  came  to  a  valley, 
a  mile  wide,  entirely  covered  with  water  to  the  depth 
of  four  or  live  icct^ — an  experience  which  was  fre- 
quently renewed  during  the  following  days.  One  of 
these  adventures  is  thus  described  : 

i%  In  the  afternoon  we  came  to  another  stream, 
fiuana  Loke  (or  child  of  Loke),  with  a  bridge  over  it. 
The  men  had  to  swim  off  to  each  end  of  the  bridge, 


FROM  SHINTE  TO  LOANDA.  189 

And  when  on  it  were  breast  deep ;  some  preferred 
holding  on  by  the  tails  of  the  oxen  the  whole  way 
across.  I  intended  to  do  this,  too ;  but,  riding  to  the 
deep  part,  before  I  could  dismount  and  seize  the  helm 
the  ox  dashed  oft'  with  his  companions,  and  his  body 
sank  so  deep  that  I  failed  in  my  attempt  even  to  catch 
the  blanket  belt",  and  if  I  pulled  the  bridle  the  ox 
seemed  as  if  he  would  come  backward  upon  me,  so 
I  struck  out  for  the  opposite  bank  alone.  My  poor 
fellows  were  dreadfully  alarmed  when  they  saw  me 
parted  from  the  cattle,  and  about  twenty  of  them 
made  a  simultaneous  rush  into  the  water  for  my  res- 
cue, and  just  as  I  reached  the  opposite  bank  one  seized 
my  arm,  and  another  threw  his  around  my  body. 
When  I  stood  up,  it  was  most  gratifying  to  see  them 
all  struggling  toward  me.  Some  had  leaped  oft'  the 
bridge,  and  allowed  their  cloaks  to  float  down  the 
stream.  Part  of  my  goods,  abandoned  in  the  hurry, 
were  brought  up  from  the  bottom  after  I  was  safe. 
Great  was  the  pleasure  expressed  when  they  found 
that  I  could  swim,  like  themselves,  without  the  aid  of 
a  tail,  and  I  did  and  do  feel  grateful  to  these  poor 
heathens  for  the  promptitude  with  which  they  dashed 
in  to  save,  as  they  thought,  my  life.  I  found  my 
clothes  cumbersome  in  the  water ;  they  could  swim 
quicker  from  being  naked.  They  swim  like  dogs,  nof 
frog-fashion,  as  we  do. 

"  The  amount  of  population  in  the  central  parts  of 
the  country  may  be  called  large  only  as  compared 
with  the  Cape  Colony  or  the  Bechuana  country.  The 
imltivated  land  is  as  nothing  compared  with  what  might 
be   brought   under   the   plough.     There   are   flowing 


190  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

streams  in  abundance,  which,  were  it  necessary,  could 
be  turned  to  the  purpose  of  irrigation  with  but  little 
labor.  Miles  of  fruitful  country  are  now  lying  abso- 
lutely waste,  for  there  is  not  even  game  to  eat  off  the 
fine  pasturage,  and  to  recline  under  the  evergreen, 
shady  groves  which  we  are  ever  passing  in  our  pro- 
gress. The  people  who  inhabit  the  central  region  are 
not  all  quite  black  in  color.  Many  incline  to  that  of 
bronze,  and  others  are  as  light  in  hue  as  the  Bush- 
men, who,  it  may  be  remembered,  afford  a  proof  that 
heat  alone  does  not  cause  blackness,  but  that  heat  and 
moisture  combined  do  very  materially  deepen  the 
color." 

On  the  4th  of  March  they  reached  the  country  of 
the  Chiboque,  a  tierce,  plundering  tribe,  who  would 
have  attacked  them  but  for  Livingstone's  courage  and 
6elf-possession.  He  finally  succeeded  in  making  a 
temporary  truce  by  the  present  of  one  of  his  few  re- 
maining oxen.  The  supplies  were  growing  small,  and 
the  insolent  demands  of  the  natives  increased,  so  that 
it  became  a  question  whether  he  could  succeed  in 
crossing  the  comparatively  narrow  strip  of  territory 
which  separated  him  from  the  Portuguese  outposts. 

"  We  were  informed,"  says  Livingstone,  "  that  the 
people  on  the  west  of  the  Chiboque  were  familiar 
with  the  visits  of  slave-traders ;  and  it  was  the  opinion 
of  our  guides  that  so  many  of  my  companions  would 
be  demanded  from  me,  in  the  same  manner  as  these 
people  had  done,  that  I  should  reach  the  coast  without 
u  single  attendant ;  I  therefore  resolved  to  alter  our 
course  and  strike  away  to  the  N.N.E.,  in  the  hope 
that  at  some  point  farther  north  I  might  find  an  exit 


FROM  SH1NTE  TO  LOANDA.  191 

to  the  Portuguese  settlement  of  Cassange.  We  pro- 
ceeded at  first  due  north,  with  the  Kasabi  villages  on 
our  right,  and  the  Kasau  on  our  left.  During  the  first 
twenty  miles  we  crossed  many  small,  but  now  swollen 
streams,  having  the  usual  boggy  banks,  and  wherevef 
the  water  had  stood  for  any  length  of  time  it  was  dis- 
colored with  rust  of  iron.  We  saw  a  'nakonfj'  ante- 
lope  one  day,  a  rare  sight  in  this  quarter ;  and  many 
new  and  pretty  flowers  adorned  the  valleys. 

"In  passing  through  the  narrow  paths  of  the  for- 
ests I  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  the  peculiarities 
of  my  ox  '  Sinbad.'  He  had  a  softer  back  than  the 
others,  but  a  much  more  intractable  temper.  His 
horns  were  bent  downward  and  hung  loosely,  so  he 
could  do  no  harm  with  them :  but  as  we  wended  our 
way  slowly  along  the  narrow  path,  he  would  suddenly 
dart  aside.  A  string  tied  to  a  stick  put  through  the 
cartilage  of  the  nose  serves  instead  of  a  bridle:  if  you 
jerk  this  back,  it  makes  him  run  fester  on  ;  if  you  pull 
it  to  one  side,  he  allows  the  nose  and  head  to  go,  but 
keeps  the  opposite  eye  directed  to  the  forbidden  spot, 
and  goes  in  spite  of  you.  The  only  way  he  can  be 
brought  to  a  stand  is  by  a  stroke  with  a  wand  across 
the  nose.  When  Sinbad  ran  in  below  a  climber 
stretched  over  the  path  so  low  that  I  could  not  stoop 
under  it,  I  was  dragged  off  and  came  down  on  the 
e  own  of  my  head ;  and  he  never  allowed  an  opportu- 
nity of  the  kind  to  pass  without  trying  to  inflict  a 
kick,  as  if  I  neither  had  nor  deserved  his  love. 

"  On  Friday,  the  23d  of  March,  we  came  to  a  vil- 
lage of  civil  people  on  the  banks  of  a  river  called 
the  Loajima,  and  we  were  wet  all  day  in  consequence 


1 92  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  UTH  AFRICA. 

of  crossing  it.  The  bridges  over  it,  and  another 
stream  which  we  crossed  at  midday,  were  submerged, 
as  we  have  hitherto  invariably  found,  by  a  flood  of 
perfectly  clear  water.  At  the  second  ford  we  were 
met  by  a  hostile  party  who  refused  us  further  passage. 
I  ordered  my  men  to  proceed  in  the  same  direction  we 
had  been  pursuing,  but  our  enemies  spread  themselves 
out  in  front  of  us  with  loud  cries.  Our  numbers 
were  about  equal  to  theirs  this  time,  so  I  moved  on  at 
the  head  of  my  men.  Some  ran  off  to  other  villages, 
or  back  to  their  own  village,  on  pretense  of  getting 
ammunition ;  others  called  out  that  all  traders  came 
to  them,  and  that  we  must  do  the  same.  As  these 
people  had  plenty  of  iron-headed  arrows  and  some 
guns,  when  we  came  to  the  edge  of  the  forest  I  or- 
dered my  men  to  put  the  luggage  in  our  centre;  and, 
if  our  enemies  did  not  fire,  to  cut  down  some  young 
trees  and  make  a  screen  as  quickly  as  possible,  but  do 
nothing  to  them  except  in  case  of  actual  attack.  I 
then  dismounted,  and,  advancing  a  little  toward  our 
principal  opponent,  showed  him  how  easily  I  could 
kill  him,  but  pointed  upward,  saying,  '  I  fear  God.' 
He  did  the  same,  placing  his  hand  on  his  heart,  point- 
ing upward,  and  saying,  '  I  fear  to  kill ;  but  come  to 
our  village;  come — do  come.'  At  this  juncture,  the 
old  head  man,  Ionga  Panza,  a  venerable  negro,  came 
up,  and  I  invited  him  and  all  to  be  seated,  that  we 
might  talk  the  matter  oyer,  Ionga  Panza  soon  let  us 
know  that  he  thought  himself  very  ill-treated  in  being 
passed  by.  As  most  skirmishes  arise  from  misunder- 
standing, this  might  have  been  a  serious  one  ;  for,  like 
all  the  tribes  near  the  Portuguese  settlements,  people 


FROM  SHINTE  TO  LOANDA.  193 

here  imagine  that  they  have  a  right  to  demand  pay- 
ment from  every  one  who  passes  through  the  country ; 
and  now,  though  Ionga  Panza  was  certainly  no  match 
for  my  men,  yet  they  were  determined  not  to  forego 
their  right  without  a  struggle.  I  removed  with  my 
men  to  the  vicinity  of  the  village,  thankful  that  no 
accident  had  as  yet  brought  us  into  actual  collision. 

"  Ionga  Panza's  sons  agreed  to  act  as  guides  into 
the  territory  of  the  Portuguese  if  I  would  give  them 
the  shell  given  by  Shinte.  I  was  strongly  averse  to 
this,  and  especially  to  give  it  beforehand,  but  yielded 
to  the  entreaty  of  my  people  to  appear  as  if  showing 
confidence  in  these  hopeful  youths.  They  urged  that 
they  wished  to  leave  the  shell  with  their  wives,  as  a 
sort  of  payment  to  them  for  enduring  their  husband's 
absence  so  long.  Having  delivered  the  precious  shell, 
we  went  west-by-nortli  to  the  river  Chikapa,  which 
here  (lat.  10°  22 '  S.)  is  forty  or  fifty  yards  wide,  and  at 
present  was  deep ;  it  was  seen  flowing  over  a  rocky, 
broken  cataract  with  great  noise  about  half  a  mile 
above  our  ford.  We  were  ferried  over  in  a  canoe,  made 
out  of  a  single  piece  of  bark  sewed  together  at  the  ends, 
and  having  sticks  placed  in  it  at  different  parts  to  act 
as  ribs. 

"  Next  morning  our  guides  went  only  about  a  mile, 
and  then  told  us  they  would  return  home.  I  expected 
this  when  paying  them  beforehand,  in  accordance  with 
the  entreaties  of  the  Makololo,  who  are  rather  ignorant 
of  the  world.  Yery  energetic  remonstrances  were  ad- 
dressed to  the  guides,  but  they  slipped  off  one  by  ono 
in  the  thick  forest  through  which  we  were  passing,  and 
I  was  glad  to  hear  my  companions  coming  to  the  con- 
13 


194  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

elusion  that,  as  we  were  now  in  parts  visited  "by  trad- 
ers, we  did  not  require  the  guides,  whose  chief  use  had 
been  to  prevent  misapprehension  of  our  objects  in  the 
minds  of  the  villagers.  The  country  was  somewhat 
more  undulating  now  than  it  had  been,  and  several 
tine  small  streams  flowed  in  deep  woody  dells.  The 
trees  are  very  tall  and  straight,  and  the  forests  gloomy 
and  damp  ;  the  ground  in  these  solitudes  is  quite  cov- 
ered with  yellow  and  brown  mosses,  and  light-colored 
lichens  clothe  all  the  trees. 

"  The  village  on  the  river  Kweelo,  at  which  we 
spent  Sunday,  was  that  of  a  civil,  lively  old  man,  called 
Sakandala,  who  offered  no  objections  to  our  progress. 
We  found  we  should  soon  enter  on  the  territory  of 
the  Bashinje  (Chinge  of  the  Portuguese).  Rains  and 
fever,  as  usual,  helped  to  impede  our  progress  until  we 
were  put  on  the  path  which  leads  from  Cassange  and 
Bihe  to  Matiamvo,  by  a  head  man  named  Kamboela. 
This  was  a  well-beaten  footpath,  and  soon  after  entering 
upon  it  we  met  a  party  of  half-caste  traders  from  Bihe, 
who  confirmed  the  information  we  had  already  got  of 
this  path  leading  straight  to  Cassange.  They  kindly 
presented  my  men  with  some  tobacco,  and  marveled 
greatly  when  they  found  that  I  had  never  been  able  to 
teach  myself  to  smoke. 

"  As  we  were  now  alone,  and  sure  of  being  on  the 
way  to  the  abodes  of  civilization,  we  went  on  briskly. 

"  On  the  30th  we  came  to  a  sudden  descent  from 
the  high  land,  indented  by  deep,  narrow  valleys,  over 
which  we  had  lately  been  travelling.  It  is  generally 
so  steep  that  it  can  only  be  descended  at  particular 
points,   and   even   there  I  was  obliged    to  dismount, 


FROM  SHINTE  TO  LOANDA.  195 

though  so  weak  that  I  had  to  be  led  by  my  compan- 
ions to  prevent  ray  toppling  over  in  walking  down.  It 
was  annoying  to  feel  myself  so  helpless,  for  I  never  liked 
to  see  a  man,  either  sick  or  well,  giving  in  effeminately. 
Below  ns  lay  the  valley  of  the  Quango.  If  you  sit  on 
the  spot  where  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  viewed  the  battle 
of  Langside,  and  look  down  on  the  vale  of  Clyde,  you 
may  see  in  miniature  the  glorious  sight  which  a  much 
greater  and  richer  valley  presented  to  our  view.  It  is 
about  a  hundred  miles  broad,  clothed  with  dark  forest, 
except  where  the  light  green  grass  covers  meadow- 
lands  on  the  Quango,  which  here  and  there  glances  out 
in  the  sun  as  it  wends  its  way  to  the  north.  The 
opposite  side  of  this  great  valley  appears  like  a  range 
of  lofty  mountains,  and  the  descent  into  it  about  a 
mile,  which,  measured  perpendicularly,  may  be  from 
a  thousand  to  twelve  hundred  feet.  Emerging  from 
the  gloomy  forests  of  Londa,  this  magnificent  prospect 
made  us  all  feel  as  if  a  weight  had  been  lifted  off  our 
eyelids.  A  cloud  was  passing  across  the  middle  of  the 
valley,  from  which  rolling  thunder  pealed,  while  above 
all  was  glorious  sunlight ;  and  when  we  went  down  to 
the  part  where  we  saw  it  passing,  we  found  that  a  very 
heavy  thunder-shower  had  fallen  under  the  path  of  the 
cloud  ;  and  the  bottom  of  the  valley,  which  from  above 
seemed  quite  smooth,  we  discovered  to  be  intersected 
and  furrowed  by  great  numbers  of  deep-cut  streams. 

They  now  entered  the  territory  of  the  Bashinge, 
the  chief  of  whom  sent  a  demand  for  a  man,  an  ox,  or 
an  elephant's  tusk.  This  was  refused,  and  of  course  no 
food  could  be  expected.  The  chief  afterwards  came 
himself  and  after  a  long  conversation  threatened  to  pre- 


196  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

vent  the  further  progress  of  the  party.  The  next 
morning  they  started  very  early,  in  a  heavy  rain,  pass- 
ing the  village  without  molestation,  and  kept  on,  in  a 
half-famished  condition. 

"Hunger,"  Livingstone  remarks,  "has  a  powerful 
effect  on  the  temper.  When  we  had  got  a  good  meal 
of  meat,  we  could  all  bear  the  petty  annoyances  of 
these  borderers  on  the  more  civilized  region  in  front 
with  equanimity :  but  having  suffered  considerably  of 
late,  we  were  all  rather  soured  in  our  feelings,  and  not 
unfrequently  I  overheard  my  companions  remark  in 
their  own  tongue,  in  answer  to  threats  of  attack, 
4  That's  what  we  want :  only  begin  them  ; '  or  with 
clenched  teeth  they  would  exclaim  to  each  other, 
'  These  things  have  never  travelled,  and  they  do  not 
know  what  men  are.'  The  worrying,  of  which  I  give 
only  a  slight  sketch,  had  considerable  influence  on  my 
own  mind,  and  more  especially  as  it  was  impossible  to 
make  any  allowance  for  the  Bashinje,  such  as  I  was 
willing  to  award  to  the  Chiboque.  They  saw  that  we 
had  nothing  to  give,  nor  would  they  be  benefited  in 
the  least  by  enforcing  the  impudent  order  to  return 
whence  we  had  come.  They  were  adding  insult  to  in- 
jury, and  this  put  us  all  into  a  fighting  spirit,  and,  as 
nearly  as  we  could  judge,  we  expected  to  be  obliged  to 
cut  our  way  through  the  Bashinje." 

On  reaching  the  river  before  them,  which  the 
nntives  called  the  Quango  (Congo  J),  on  the  4th  of* 
April,  they  were  met  by  the  same  natives  with  the 
nsual  fierce  demand  for  presents.  After  the  Makololo 
bad  stripped  themselves  of  their  copper  rings,  but  in 
vain,  Livingstone   determined  to   cross   the  river   in 


FROM  SHINTE  TO  LOANDA.  197 

spite  of  their  opposition.  He  fell  in  with  a  Portu- 
guese half-caste,  Cypriano  by  name,  who  assisted  him 
across  the  stream.  On  the  opposite  bank  the  tribes 
were  subjects  of  the  Portuguese,  and  all  difficulties 
and  dangers  were  over. 

"We  were  detained  by  rains  and  a  desire  to  ascer- 
tain our  geographical  position  till  Monday,  the  10th," 
lie  continues, "  and  only  got  the  latitude  9°  50 ;  S. ;  and, 
after  three  days'  pretty  hard  travelling  through  the 
long  grass,  reached  Cassange,  the  farthest  inland  sta- 
tion of  the  Portuguese  in  Western  Africa.  We 
crossed  several  fine  little  streams  running  into  the 
Quango ;  and  as  the  grass  continued  to  tower  about 
two  feet  over  our  heads,  it  generally  obstructed  our 
view  of  the  adjacent  country,  and  sometimes  hung 
over  the  path,  making  one  side  of  the  body  wet  with 
the  dew  every  morning,  or,  when  it  rained,  kept  me 
wTet  during  the  whole  day.  Ianade  my  entrance  in  a 
somewhat  forlorn  state  as  to  clothing  among  our  Por- 
tuguese  allies.  The  first  gentleman  I  met  in  the  vil- 
lage asked  if  I  had  a  passport,  and  said  it  was  neces- 
sary to  take  me  before  the  authorities.  As  I  was  in 
the  same  state  of  mind  in  which  individuals  are  who 
commit  a  petty  depredation  in  order  to  obtain  the 
shelter  and  food  of  a  prison,  I  gladly  accompanied  him 
to  the  house  of  the  commandant  or  Chefe,  Senhor  de 
Silva  Pego.  Having  shown  my  passport  to  this  gen- 
tleman, he  politely  asked  me  to  supper,  and,  as  we 
had  eaten  nothing  except  the  farina  of  Cypriano  from 
the  Quango  to  this,  I  suspect  I  appeared  particularly 
ravenous  to  the  other  gentlemen  around  the  table. 
They   seemed,  however,  to   understand  my   position 


1 98  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  U Til  AFRICA. 

pretty  well,  from  having  all  travelled  extensively 
themselves;  had  they  not  been  present,  I  might  have 
put  some  in  my  pocket  to  eat  by  night ;  for,  after 
fever,  the  appetite  is  excessively  keen,  and  manioc  is 
one  of  the  most  unsatisfying  kinds  of  food.  Captain 
Antonio  Rodrigues  Neves  then  kindly  invited  me  to 
take  up  my  abode  in  his  house.  Next  morning  this 
generous  man  arrayed  me  in  decent  clothing,  and  con- 
tinued during  the  whole  period  of  my  stay  to  treat 
me  as  if  I  had  been  his  brother.  He  not  only  at- 
tended to  my  wants,  but  also  furnished  food  for  my 
famishing  party  free  of  charge. 

"The  village  of  Cassange  (pronounced  Kassanje) 
is  composed  of  thirty  or  forty  traders'  houses,  scat- 
tered about  without  any  regularity,  on  an  elevated 
flat  spot  in  the  great  Quango  or  Cassange  valley. 
They  are  built  of  wattle  and  daub,  and  surrounded  by 
plantations  of  manioc,  maize,  etc.  Behind  them 
there  are  usually  kitchen  gardens,  in  which  the  com- 
mon European  vegetables,  as  potatoes,  peas,  cabbages, 
onions,  tomatoes,  etc.,  etc.,  grow.  Guavas  and  ba- 
nanas appear,  from  the  size  and  abundance  of  the 
trees,  to  have  been  introduced  many  years  ago,  while 
the  land  was  still  in  the  possession  of  the  natives  ;  but 
pine-apples,  orange,  fig,  and  cashew  trees  have  but 
lately  been  tried.  There  are  about  forty  Portuguese 
traders  in  this  district,  all  of  whom  are  officers  in  the 
militia,  and  many  of  them  have  become  rich  from 
adopting  the  plan  of  sending  out  pombeiros,  or  native 
traders,  with  large  quantities  of  goods,  to  trade  in  the 
more  remote  parts  of  the  country. 

"The  latitude  and  longitude  of  Cassange,  the  most 


FROM  SHINTE  TO  LOANDA.  199 

easterly  station  of  the  Portuguese  in  Western  Africa, 
is  lat.  9°  37'  S.,  and  long.  17°  49'  E;  consequently 
we  had  still  about  300  miles  to  traverse  before  we 
could  reach  the  coast.  We  had  a  black  militia  corporal 
as  a  guide.  He  was  a  native  of  Ambaca,  and,  like 
nearly  all  the  inhabitants  of  that  district,  known  by 
the  name  of  Ambakistas,  could  both  read  and  write. 
II  e  had  three  slaves  with  him,  and  was  carried  by  them 
in  a  'tipoia,'  or  hammock  slung  to  a  pole.  His  slaves 
were  young,  and  unable  to  convey  him  far  at  a  time, 
but  he  was  considerate  enough  to  walk  except  when 
we  came  near  to  a  village.  He  then  mounted  his  tip- 
oia and  entered  the  village  in  state ;  his  departure  was 
made  in  the  same  manner,  and  he  continued  in  the 
hammock  till  the  village  was  out  of  sight.  It  was 
interesting  to  observe  the  manners  of  our  soldier-guide. 
Two  slaves  were  always  employed  in  carrying  his  tip- 
oia, and  the  third  carried  a  wooden  box,  about  three 
feet  long,  containing  his  writing  materials,  dishes,  and 
clothing.  He  was  cleanly  in  all  his  ways,  and,  though 
quite  black  himself,  when  he  soolded  any  one  of  his 
own  color, 'abused  him  as  a  'negro.'  When  he  wanted 
to  purchase  any  article  from  a  village,  he  would  sit 
down,  mix  a  little  gunpowder  as  ink,  and  write  a  note 
in  a  neat  hand  to  ask  the  price,  addressing  it  to  the 
shopkeeper  with  the  rather  pompous  title,  'Illustris- 
simo  Senhor'  (Most  Illustrious  Sir).  This  is  the  in- 
variable mode  of  address  throughout  Angola. 

"  Having  left  Cassange  on  the  21st  of  April,  we 
passed  across  the  remaining  portion  of  the  excessively 
fertile  valley  to  the  foot  of  Tala  Mungongo.  We 
grossed  a  tine  little  stream  called  the  Lui  on  the  22d, 


200  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  UTH  AFRICA. 

and  another  named  the  Lnare  on  the  2-ith,  then  slept 
at  the  bottom  of  the  height,  which  is  from  a  thousand 
to  fifteen  hundred  feet.  The  clouds  came  float! og 
along  the  valley,  and  broke  against  the  sides  of  the 
ascent,  and  the  dripping  rain  on  the  tall  grass  made 
the  slaps  in  the  face  it  gave,  when  the  hand  or  a  stick 
was  not  held  up  before  it,  anything  but  agreeable. 
This  edge  of  the  valley  is  exactly  like  the  other;  jut- 
ting spurs  and  defiles  give  the  red  ascent  the  same 
serrated  appearance  as  that  which  we  descended  from 
the  highlands  of  Londa. 

"  It  would  have  afforded  me  pleasure  to  have  culti- 
vated a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  inhabi- 
tants of  this  part  of  the  country,  but  the  vertigo  pro- 
duced by  frequent  fevers  made  it  as  much  as  I  could 
do  to  stick  on  the  ox  and  crawl  along  in  misery.  In 
crossing  the  Lombe,  my  ox  Sinbad,  in  the  indulgence 
of  his  propensity  to  strike  out  a  new  path  for  himself, 
plunged  overhead  into  a  deep  hole,  and  so  soused  me 
that  I  was  obliged  to  move  on  to  dry  my  clothing, 
without  calling  on  the  Europeans  who  live  on  the 
bank.  This  I  regretted,  for  all  the  Portuguese  were 
very  kind,  and  like  the  Boers  placed  in  similar  circum- 
stances, feel  it  a  slight  to  be  passed  without  a  word  of 
salutation.  But  we  went  on  to  a  spot  where  orange- 
trees  had  been  planted  by  the  natives  themselves,  and 
where  abundance  of  that  refreshing  fruit  was  exposed 
for  sale. 

"  On  entering  the  district  of  Ambaca,  we  found  the 
landscape  enlivened  by  the  appearance  of  lofty  moun- 
tains in  the  distance,  the  grass  comparatively  short,  and 
the  whole  country  at  this  time  looking  gay  and  verdant 


FROM  SHINTE   TO  LOANDA.  201 

On  our  left  we  saw  certain  rocks  of  the  same  nature 
with  those  of  Pungo  Andongo,  and  which  closely  re- 
semble the  Stonehenge  group  on  Salisbury  Plain,  only 
the  stone  pillars  here  are  of  gigantic  size.  This  region 
is  all  wonderfully  fertile,  famed  for  raising  cattle,  and 
all  kinds  of  agricultural  produce,  at  a  cheap  rate. 

"  We  were  most  kindly  received  by  the  command- 
ant of  Ambaca,  Arsenio  de  Carpo,  who  spoke  a  little 
English.  He  recommended  wine  for  my  debility, 
and  here  I  took  the  first  srl ass  of  that  beverage  I  had 
taken  in  Africa.  I  felt  much  refreshed,  and  could 
then  realize  and  meditate  on  the  weakening  effects  of 
the  fever.  They  were  curious  even  to  myself;  for, 
though  I  had  tried  several  times  since  we  left  Ngio  to 
take  lunar  observations,  I  could  not  avoid  confusion  of 
time  and  distance,  neither  could  I  hold  the  instrument 
steady,  nor  perform  a  simple  calculation;  hence  many 
of  the  positions  of  this  part  of  the  route  were  left  till 
my  return  from  Loanda.  Often,  on  getting  up  in  the 
mornings,  I  found  my  clothing  as  wet  from  perspira- 
tion as  if  it  had  been  dipped  in  water." 

The  journey  was  slow,  on  account  of  Livingstone's 
condition,  which  the  kindness  of  the  Portuguese  offi- 
cials in  the  interior  could  not  relieve.  It  was  nearly 
a  month  before  he  reached  the  station  of  Golungo 
Alto,  among  the  last  mountains.  Here  he  rested  a 
few  days,  and  then  somewhat  refreshed,  started  foi 
Loanda  on  the  24th  of  May. 

"  Farther  on  we  left  the  mountainous  country,  and, 
as  we  descended  toward  the  west  coast,  saw  the  lands 
assuming  a  more  sterile,  uninviting  aspect.  On  our 
right  ran  the  river  Senza,  which  nearer  the  sea  takes 


202  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

the  name  of  Bengo.  It  is  about  fifty  yards  broad, 
and  navigable  for  canoes.  The  low  plains  adjacent  to 
its  banks  are  protected  from  inundation  by  embank- 
ments, and  the  population  is  entirely  occupied  in 
raising  food  and  fruits  for  exportation  to  Loanda  by 
means  of  canoes.  The  banks  are  infested  by  myri- 
ads of  the  most  ferocious  musquitos  I  ever  met.  Not 
one  of  our  party  could  get  a  snatch  of  sleep.  I  was 
taken  into  the  house  of  a  Portuguese,  but  was  soon 
glad  to  make  my  escape  and  lie  across  the  path  on  the 
lee  side  of  the  fire,  where  the  smoke  blew  over  my 
body.  My  host  wondered  at  my  want  of  taste,  and  I 
at  his  want  of  feeling;  for,  to  our  astonishment,  he 
and  the  other  inhabitants  had  actually  become  used 
to  what  was  at  least  equal  to  a  nail  through  the  heel 
of  one's  boot,  or  the  tooth-ache. ' 

"As  we  were  now  drawing  near  to  the  sea,  my  com- 
panions were  looking  at  everything  in  a  serious  light. 
One  of  them  asked  me  if  we  should  all  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  watching  each  other  at  Loanda.  '  Suppose 
one  went  for  water,  would  the  others  see  if  he  were 
kidnapped  \  '  I  replied,  'I  see  what  you  are  driving 
at;  and  if  you  suspect  me,  you  may  return,  for  I  am 
as  ignorant  of  Loanda  as  you  are;  but  nothing  will 
happen  to  you  but  what  happens  to  myself.  We  have 
6tood  by  each  other  hitherto,  and  will  do  so  to  the 
last.'  The  plains  adjacent  to  Loanda  are  somewhat 
elevated  and  comparatively  sterile.  On  coming  across 
these  we  first  beheld  the  sea:  my  companions  looked 
upon  the  boundless  ocean  with  awe.  On  describing 
their  feelings  afterward,  they  remarked  that  '  wo 
marched  along  with  our  father,  believing  that  what 


FROM  SHINTE  TO  LOANDA.  203 

the  ancients  had  always  told  us  was  true,  that  the 
world  has  no  end ;  but  all  at  once  the  world  said  to  us, 
I  am  finished  ;  there  is  no  more  of  me  !  '  They  had 
always  imagined  that  the  world  was  one  extended  plain 
without  limit. 

"  They  were  now  somewhat  apprehensive  of  suf- 
fering want,  and  I  was  unable  to  allay  their  fears  with 
any  promise  of  supply,  for  my  own  mind  was  depres- 
sed by  disease  and  care.  The  fever  had  induced  a 
state  of  chronic  dysentery,  so  troublesome  that  I  could 
not  remain  on  the  ox  more  than  ten  minutes  at  a  time ; 
and  as  we  came  down  the  declivity  above  the  city  of 
Loanda  on  the  31st  of  May,  I  was  laboring  under 
great  depression  of  spirits,  as  I  understood  that,  in  a 
population  of  twelve  thousand  souls,  there  was  but  one 
genuine  English  gentleman.  I  naturally  felt  anxious 
to  know  whether  he  were  possessed  of  good-nature,  or 
was  one  of  those  crusty  mortals  one  would  rather  not 
meet  at  all. 

•'  This  gentleman,  Mr.  Gabriel,  our  commissioner 
for  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade,  had  kindly  for- 
warded an  invitation  to  meet  me  on  the  way  from  Gas- 
sange,  but,  unfortunately,  it  crossed  me  on  the  road. 
When  we  entered  his  porch,  I  was  delighted  to  see  a 
number  of  flowers  cultivated  carefully,  and  inferred 
'a-om  this  circumstance  that  he  was,  what  I  soon  dis- 
covered him  to  be,  a  real,  whole-hearted  Englishman. 

"  Seeing  me  ill,  he  benevolently  offered  me  his  bed. 
Kevcr  shall  I  forget  the  luxurious  pleasure  I  enjoyed 
in  feeling  myself  again  on  a  good  English  couch,  after 
bix  months'  sleeping  on  the  ground.  I  was  soon 
isleep  ;  and  Mr.  Gabriel,  coming  in  almost  immedi- 
ately, rejoiced  at  the  soundness  of  my  repose." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Livingstone's  journey  across  the  continent. 
v. — return  to  the   makololo  country. 

CONTINUED  attacks  of  fever,  and  the  necessity 
^  of  providing  himself  thoroughly  for  the  return 
journey,  obliged  Livingstone  to  remain  nearly  four 
months  in  Loanda.  During  this  time  he  was  treated 
with  great  kindness  by  the  Portuguese  authorities 
and  the  officers  of  the  English  vessels  in  port,  all  of 
whom  contributed  liberally  to  make  up  his  supplies. 
The  Makololo  who  accompanied  him  soon  found  em- 
ployment sufficient  to  support  them,  and  enabled  them 
to  buy  muslin  and  trinkets.  Livingstone  gives  an 
interesting  picture  of  their  behavior,  in  the  midst  of 
scenes  so  newT  and  strange  to  them : 

"  Every  one  remarked  the  serious  deportment  of 
the  Makololo.  They  viewed  the  large  stone  houses 
and  churches  in  the  vicinity  of  the  great  ocean  with 
awe.  A  house  with  two  stories  was,  until  now,  be- 
yond their  comprehension.  In  explanation  of  this 
strange  thing,  I  had  always  been  obliged  to  use  the 
word  for  hut ;  and  as  huts  are  constructed  by  the  poles 
being  let  into  the  earth,  they  never  could  comprehend 
how  the  poles  of  one  hut  could  be  founded  upon  the 
roof  of  another,  or  how  men  could  live  in  the  upper 
story,  with  the  conical  roof  of  the  lower  one  in  the 
middle.     Some  Makololo,  who  had  visited  my   little 


RETURN  TO  THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.     205 

bouse  at  Kolobeng,  in  trying  to  describe  it  to  their 
countrymen  at  Linyanti,  said,  '  It  is  not  a  hut :  it  is  a 
mountain  with  several  caves  in  it.' 

"  Commander  Bedingfeld  and  Captain  Skene  invited 
thorn  to  visit  their  vessels,  the  '  Pluto'  and  '  Philomel.' 
Knowing  their  fears,  I  told  them  that  no  one  need  go 
if  he  entertained  the  least  suspicion  of  foul  play. 
Nearly  the  whole  party  went ;  and  when  on  deck,  I. 
pointed  to  the  sailors,  and  said,  *  Now  these  are  all 
my  countrymen,  sent  by  our  Queen  for  the  purpose  of 
putting  down  the  trade  of  those  that  buy  and  sell 
black  men.'  They  replied,  '  Truly  !  they  are  just  like 
you  ! '  and  all  their  fears  seemed  to  vanish  at  once,  for 
they  went  forward  among  the  men,  and  the  jolly  tars, 
acting  much  as  the  Makololo  would  have  done  in 
similar  circumstances,  handed  them  a  share  of  the 
bread  and  beef  which  they  had  for  dinner.  The  com- 
mander allowed  them  to  fire  off  a  cannon ;  and,  hav- 
ing the  most  exalted  ideas  of  its  power,  they  were 
greatly  pleased  wdien  I  told  them,  '  That  is  what  they 
put  down  the  slave-trade  with.'  The  size  of  the  brig- 
of-war  amazed  them.  *  It  is  not  a  canoe  at  all ;  it  is  a 
town!'  The  sailors' deck  they  named  'the  kotla;' 
and  then,  as  a  climax  to  their  description  of  this  great 
ark,  added,  'And  what  sort  of  a  town  is  it  that  you 
must  climb  up  into  with  a  rope  % ' 

"  The  objects  which  1  had  in  view  in  opening  up 
the  country,  as  stated  in  a  few  notes  of  my  journey, 
published  in  the  newspapers  of  Angola,  so  commended 
themselves  to  the  general  government  and  merchants 
of  Loanda,  that,  at  the  instance  of  his  excellency  the 
bishop,  a  handsome  present  for  Sekeletu  was  granted 


206  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

by  the  Board  of  Public  Works.  It  consisted  of  a  col- 
onel's complete  uniform  and  a  horse  for  the  chief,  and 
6uits  of  clothing  for  all  the  men  who  accompanied  me. 
The  merchants  also  made  a  present,  by  public  sub- 
scription, of  handsome  specimens  of  all  their  articles 
of  trade,  and  two  donkeys,  for  the  purpose  of  introduc- 
ing the  breed  into  his  country,  as  tsetse  cannot  kill 
this  beast  of  burden.  These  presents  were  accompan- 
ied by  letters  from  the  bishop  and  merchants ;  and  J 
was  kindly  favored  with  letters  of  recommendation  tti 
the  Portuguese  authorities  in  Eastern  Africa. 

"  I  took  with  me  a  good  stock  of  cotton  cloth,  fresh 
supplies  of  ammunition  and  beads,  and  gave  each  of 
my  men  a  musket.  As  my  companions  had  amassed 
considerable  quantities  of  goods,  they  were  unable  to 
carry  mine,  but  the  bishop  furnished  me  with  twenty 
carriers,  and  sent  forward  orders  to  all  the  command- 
ants of  the  districts  through  which  we  were  to  pass  to 
render  me  every  assistance  in  their  power.  Being 
now  supplied  with  a  good  new  tent  made  by  my 
friends  on  board  the  Philomel,  we  left  Loanda  on  the 
20th  of  September,  1 854,  and  passed  round  by  9ea  to 
the  mouth  of  the  river  Bengo. 

"  On  returning  to  Golungo  Alto,  after  a  canoe  vm-- 
age  down  the  Lucalla  to  its  junction  with  the  largo 
Coanza  "River,  I  found  several  of  my  men  laid  up 
with  fever.  One  of  the  reasons  for  my  leaving  them 
there  was  that  they  might  recover  from  the  fatigue  ot 
the  journey  from  Loanda,  which  had  much  more  effect 
upon  their  feet  than  hundreds  of  miles  had  on  our  way 
westward.  They  had  always  been  accustomed  to 
moisture  in  their  own  well-watered  land,  and  we  < -or- 


RETURN  TO  THE    MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.     207 

tainly  had  a  superabundance  of  that  in  Loanda.  The 
roads,  however,  from  Loanda  to  Golungo  Alto  were 
both  hard  and  dry,  and  they  suffered  severely  in  con- 
sequence ;  yet  they  were  composing  songs  to  be  sung 
when  they  should  reach  home.  The  Argonauts  were 
nothing  to  them ;  and  they  remarked  very  impress- 
ively to  me,  '  It  Avas  well  you  came  with  Makololo, 
for  no  tribe  could  have  done  what  we  have  accom- 
plished in  coming  to  the  white  man's  country  ;  we 
are  the  true  ancients,  who  can  tell  wonderful  things.' 
Two  of  them  now  had  fever  in  the  continued  form, 
and  became  jaundiced,  the  whites  or  conjunctival  mem- 
brane of  their  eyes  becoming  as  yellow  as  saffron  ;\#nd 
a  third  suffered  from  an  attack  of  mania.  He  came  to 
his  companions  one  day,  and  said,  '  Remain  well.  I 
am  called  away  by  the  gods ! '  and  set  off  at  the  top 
of  his  speed.  The  young  men  caught  him  before  he 
had  gone  a  mile,'  and  bound  him.  By  gentle  treat- 
ment and  watching  for  a  few  days,  he  recovered.  I 
have  observed  several  instances  of  this  kind  in  the 
country,  but  very  few  cases  of  idiocy,  and  I  believe 
that  continued  insanity  is  rare. 

"  Both  myself  and  men  having  recovered  from  severe 
attacks  of  fever,  we  left  the  hospitable  residence  of  Mr. 
Canto  on  the  14th  of  December,  with  a  deep  sense  of 
his  kindness  to  us  all,  and  proceeded  on  our  way  to 
Ambaca. 

"  On  crossing  the  Lucalla  we  a  made  detour  to  the 
Bouth,  in  order  to  visit  the  famous  rocks  of  Pungo  An- 
dongo.  As  soon  as  we  crossed  the  rivulet  Lotete,  a 
change  in  the  vegetation  of  the  country  was  apparent. 
We  found  the  trees  identical  with  those  to  be  seen 


208  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

south  of  the  Chobe.  The  grass,  too,  stands  in  tufts, 
and  is  of  that  kind  which  the  natives  consider  to  be 
best  adapted  for  cattle.  Two  species  of  grape-beari ug 
vines  abound  everywhere  in  this  district,  and  the 
influence  of  the  good  pasturage  is  seen  in  the  plump 
condition  of  the  cattle.  In  all  my  previous  inquiries 
respecting  the  vegetable  products  of  Angola,  I  was  in- 
variably directed  to  Pungo  Andongo.  Do  you  grow 
wheat  ?  'Oh,  yes,  in  Pungo  Andongo.' — Grapes,  tigs, 
or  peaches  ?  '  Oh,  yes,  in  Pungo  Andongo.' — Do  you 
make  butter,  cheese,  etc.  ?  The  uniform  answer  was, 
'Oh,  yes,  there  is  abundance  of  all  these  in  Pango 
Andongo.'  But  when  we  arrived  here,  we  found  that 
the  answers  all  referred  to  the  activity  of  one  man, 
Colonel  Manuel  Antonio  Pires.  The  presence  of  the 
wild  grape  shows  that  vineyards  might  be  cultivated 
writh  success;  the  wheat  grows  well  without  irrigation  ; 
and  any  one  who  tasted  the  butter  and  cheese  at  the 
table  of  Colonel  Pires  would  prefer  them  to  the  stale 
produce  of  the  Irish  dairy,  in  general  use  throughout 
that  province. 

"  While  enjoying  the  hospitality  of  this  merchant- 
prince  in  his  commodious  residence,  which  is  outside 
the  rocks,  and  commands  a  beautiful  view  of  all  the 
adjacent  country,  I  learned  that  all  my  dispatches, 
maps,  and  journal  had  gone  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  in 
the  mail-packet  '  Forerunner.'  I  felt  so  glad  that  un- 
friend Lieutenant  BedingfeH,  to  whose  care  I  had  com- 
mitted them,  though  in  the  most  imminent  danger,  had 
not  shared  a  similar  fate,  that  I  was  at  once  reconciled 
to  the  labor  of  rewriting.  I  availed  myself  of  the  kind- 
ness of  Colonel  Pires,  and  remained  till  the  end  of  the 
year  reproducing  my  lost  papers. 


&BTU&N  TO  THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.     209 

"The  fort  of  Pungo  Andongo  (lat.  9°  42'  S.,  long. 
15°  30'  E.)  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  group  of  curi- 
ous columnar-shaped  rocks,  each  of  which  is  upward 
of  three  hundred  feet  in  height.  They  are  composed 
of  conglomerate,  made  up  of  a  great  variety  of  rounded 
pieces  in  a  matrix  of  dark  red  sandstone.  They  rest 
on  a  thick  stratum  of  this  last  rock,  with  very  few  of 
the  pebbles  in  its  substance.  On  this  a  fossil  palm  has 
been  found,  and  if  of  the  same  age  as  those  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  continent,  on  which  similar  palms 
now  lie,  there  may  be  coal  underneath  this,  as  well  as 
under  that  at  Tete. 

"January  1,  1855.  Having,  through  the  kindness 
of  Colonel  Pires,  reproduced  some  of  my  lost  papers,  I 
h'ft  Pungo  Andongo  the  first  day  of  this  .year,  and  at 
Oandumba  slept  in  one  of  the  dairy  establishments  of 
my  friend,  who  had  sent  forward  orders  for  an  ample 
supply  of  butter,  cheese,  and  milk.  Our  path  lay 
along  the  right  bank  of  the  Coanza.  This  is  composed 
of  the  same  sandstone  rock,  with  pebbles,  which  forms 
the  flooring  of  the  country.  The  land  is  level,  has 
much  open  forest,  and  is  well  adapted  for  pasturage. 

"  Before  we  reached  Cassange  we  were  overtaken 
by  the  Commandant,  Senhor  Carvalho,  who  was  re- 
turning, with  a  detachment  of  fifty  men  and  a  field 
piece,  from  an  unsuccessful  search  after  some  rebels. 
The  rebels  had  fled,  and  all  he  could  do  was  to  burn 
their  huts.  lie  kindly  invited  me  to  take  up  my  resi- 
dence with  him ;  but,  not  wishing  to  pass  by  the  gen- 
tleman (Captain  Neves)  who  had  so  kindly  received 
L/ie  on  my  first  arrival  in  the  Portuguese  possessions,  T 
declined."  Livingstone  remained  some  time  at  Cas 
l4 


21 0  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  U TH  AFRICA. 

eange,  resting  his  men,  and  waiting  for  some  Portu- 
guese pombeiros,  or  half-breed  traders,  who  were  about 
to  start  for  the  interior,  and  whose  company  would 
greatly  strengthen  his  party.  They  finally  left  Cas- 
sange  on  the  20th  of  February. 

"  On  the  day  of  starting  the  westerly  wind  blew 
6trongly,  and  on  the  day  following  we  were  brought  to 
a  stand  by  several  of  our  party  being  laid  up  with 
lever.  This  complaint  is  the  only  serious  drawback 
Angola  possesses.  It  is  in  every  other  respect  an 
agreeable  land,  and  admirably  adapted  for  yielding  a 
rich  abundance  of  tropical  produce  for  the  rest  of  the 
world.  Indeed,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  asserting  that, 
had  it  been  in  the  possession  of  England,  it  would 
now  have  been  yielding  as  much  or  more  of  the  raw 
material  for  her  manufactures  as  an  equal  extent  of 
territory  in  the  cotton-growing  States  of  America.  A 
railway  from  Loanda  to  this  valley  would  secure  the 
trade  of  most  of  the  interior  of  South  Central  Africa. 

"  On  coming  back  to  Cypriano's  village  on  the 
28th,  we  found  that  his  step-father  had  died  after  we 
had  passed,  and  according  to  the  custom  of  the  coun- 
try, he  had  spent  more  than  his  patrimony  in  funeral 
orgies.  He  acted  with  his  wonted  kindness,  though, 
unfortunately,  drinking  has  got  him  so  deeply  in  debt 
that  he  now  keeps  out  of  the  way  of  his  creditors. 
He  informed  us  that  the  source  of  the  Quango  is  eight 
days,  or  one  hundred  miles,  to  the  south  of  this,  and 
in  a  range  called  Mosamba,  in  the  countiy  of  the 
Basongo.  We  can  see  from  this  a  sort  of  break  in 
the  high  land  which  stretches  away  round  to  Tala 
Mongongo,  through  which  the  river  conies. 


RETURN  TO  THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.     211 

"The  ferrymen  demanded  thirty  yards  of  calico, 
bnt  received  six  thankfully.  The  canoes  were 
wretched,  carrying  only  two  persons  at  a  time;  but 
my  men  being  well  acquainted  with  the  water,  we  all 
got  over  in  about  two  hours  and  a  half.  They  excited 
the  admiration  of  the  inhabitants  by  the  manner  in 
which  they  managed  the  cattle  and  donkeys  in  cross- 
ing. The  most  stubborn  of  beasts  found  himself 
powerless  in  their  hands.  Five  or  six,  seizing  hold  on 
one.  bundled  him  at  once  into  the  stream,  and,  in  this 
predicament^  he  always  thought  it  best  policy  to  give 
in  and  swim.  The  men  sometimes  swam  along  with 
the  cattle,  and  forced  them  to  go  on  by  dashing  water 
at  their  heads.  The  difference  between  my  men  and 
those  of  ihe  native  traders  who  accompanied  us  was 
never  more  apparent  than  now ;  for,  while  my  men 
felt  an  interest  in  everything  we  possessed  in  common, 
theirs  were  rather  glad  when  the  oxen  refused  to  cross, 
for,  being  obliged  to  slaughter  them  on  such  occasions, 
the  loss  to  theii  masters  was  a  welcome  feast  to  them- 
gelves." 

After  crossing  the  Quango,  where  he  was  not  mo- 
lested, as  on  the  westward  journey,  Livingstone  deci- 
ded to  accompany  the  traders  as  far  as  the  town  of 
Cabongo,  in  the  Londa  country,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
territories  of  the  Chiboque  and  the  great  sw^ampy 
regions  lying  between  him  and  the  distant  Leeba 
River.  This  route  took  him  further  to  the  eastward, 
but  did  not  increase  the  distance  to  be  traversed. 
Moreover,  he  would  have  the  company  of  the  Portu- 
guese traders  as  far  as  Cabongo,  and  the  indica- 
tions  were   that   between   the   latter    place    and  the 


212  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  UTH  AFRICA. 

town  of  his  friend  Shinte,  few  difficulties  would   be 
encountered  from  the  native  tribes. 

"  On  proceeding  to  our  former  station  near  Sansawe's 
village,"  the  narrative  continues,  "  he  ran  to  meet  us 
with  wonderful  urbanity,  asking  if  we  had  seen  Moene 
Put,  king  of  the  white  men  (or  Portuguese) ;  and 
added,  on  parting,  that  he  would  come  to  receive  his 
dues  in  the  evening.  I  replied  that,  as  he  had  treated 
us  so  scurvily,  even  forbidding  his  people  to  sell  us 
any  food,  if  he  did  not  bring  us  a  fowl  and  some  eggs 
as  part  of  his  duty  as  a  chief,  he  should  receive  no 
present  from  me.  When  he  came,  it  was  in  the  usual 
Londa  way  of  showing  the  exalted  position  he  occu- 
pies, mounted  on  the  shoulders  of  his  spokesman,  as 
school-boys  sometimes  do  in  England,  and  as  was  rep- 
resented to  have  been  the  case  in  the  southern  islands 
when  Captain  Cook  visited  them.  My  companions, 
amused  at  his  idea  of  dignity,  greeted  him  with  a 
hearty  laugh.  He  visited  the  native  traders  first,  and 
then  came  to  me  with  two  cocks  as  a  present.  I  spoke 
to  him  about  the  impolicy  of  treatment  we  had  re- 
ceived at  his  hands,  and  quoted  the  example  of  the 
Bangalas,  who  had  been  conquered  by  the  Portuguese, 
for  their  extortionate  demands  of  payment  for  firewood, 
grass,  water,  etc.,  and  concluded  by  denying  his  right 
to  any  payment  for  simply  passing  through  uncultiva- 
ted land.  To  all  this  he  agreed  ;  and  then  I  gave  him. 
as  a  token  of  friendship,  a  pannikin  of  coarse  powder, 
two  iron  spoons,  and  two  yards  of  coarse  printed  C&lico. 

"  Finding  the  progress  of  Senhor  Pascoal  and  the 
other  pombeiros  excessively  slow,  I  resolved  to  forego 
his  company  to  Cabango  after  I  had  delivered  to  him 


RETURN  TO   THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.      2L3 

Borne  letters  to  be  sent  back  to  Cassange.    I  went  for- 
ward with  the  intention  of  finishing  my  writing,  and 
leaving   a  packet  for  him  at  some  village.     We  as- 
cended the  eastern  acclivity  that  bounds  the  Cassange 
valley,  which  has  rather  a  gradual  ascent  np  from  the 
Quango,  and  we  found  that  the  last  ascent,  though  ap 
parently  not  quite  so  high  as  that  at  Tala  Mungongo, 
is  actually  much  higher.     The  top  is  about  5,000  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the  bottom  3,500  feet. 
We  had  now  gained  the  summit  of  the  western  sub- 
tending ridge,  and  began  to  descend  toward  the  centre 
of  the  country,  hoping  soon  to  get  out  of  the  Chiboque 
territory,  which  when  we  ascended  from  the  Cassange 
valley,  we  had  entered  ;  but,  on  the  19th  of  April,  the 
intermittent,  which  had  begun  on  the  16th  of  March, 
was  changed  into  an  extremely  severe  attack  of  rheu- 
matic fever.     This  was  brought  on  by  being  obliged  to 
sleep  on  an  extensive  plain  covered  with  water.     The 
rain  poured  down  incessantly,  but  we  formed  our  beds 
by  dragging  up  the  earth  into  oblong  mounds,  some- 
what like  graves  in  a  country  church-yard,  and  then  plac- 
ing grass  upon  them.  The  rain  continuing  to  deluge  us, 
we  were  unable  to  leave  for  two  days,  but  as  soon  as 
it  became  fair  we  continued  our  march.     The  heavy 
dew  upon  the  high  grass  was  so  cold  as  to  cause  shiv 
ering,  and  I  was  forced  to  lie  by  for  eight  days,  toss- 
ing and  groaning  with  violent  pain  in  the  head.     TlnV 
was  the  most  severe  attack  I  had  endured.     It  made 
me  quite  unfit  to  move,  or  even  know  what  was  pass- 
ing outside  my  little  tent.     Senhor  Pascoal,  who  had 
been  detained  by  the  severe  rain  at  a  better  spot,  at 
last  came  up,  and,  knowing  that  leeches  abounded  in 


214:  TRA  VEL  S  IN  SO  UTH  A  FRICA. 

the  rivulets,  procured  a  number,  and  applied  some 
dozens  to  the  nape  of  the  neck  and  the  loins.  This 
partially  relieved  the  pain.  He  was  then  obliged  to 
move  forward,  in  order  to  purchase  food  for  his  large 
party.  After  many  days  I  began  to  recover,  and 
wished  to  move  on,  but  my  men  at  first  objected  to 
the  attempt  on  account  of  my  weakness. 

"  The  country  was  generally  covered  with  forest, 
and  we  slept  every  night  at  some  village.  I  was  so 
weak,  and  had  become  so  deaf  from  the  effects  of  the 
fever,  that  I  was  glad  to  avail  myself  of  the  company 
of  Senhor  Pascoal  and  the  other  native  traders.  Our 
rate  of  travelling  was  only  two  geographical  miles  per 
hour,  and  the  average  number  of  hours  three  and  a 
half  per  day,  or  seven  miles.  Two-thirds  of  the  month 
was  spent  in  stoppages,  there  being  only  ten  travelling 
days  in  each  month.  The  stoppages  were  caused  by 
sickness,  and  the  necessity  of  remaining  in  different 
parts  to  purchase  food ;  and  also  because,  when  one 
carrier  was  sick,  the  rest  refused  to  carry  his  load. 

.  "  We  crossed  the  Loange,  a  deep  but  narrow  stream, 
by  a  bridge.  It  becomes  much  larger,  and  contains 
hippopotami,  lower  down.  It  is  the  boundary  of 
Londa  on  the  west.  We  slept  also  on  the  banks  of  the 
Pezo,  now  flooded,  and  could  not  but  admire  their 
capabilities  for  easy  irrigation.  On  reaching  the  river 
Chikapa,  the  25th  of  March,  we  found  it  fifty  or  sixty 
yards  wide,  and  flowing  E.N.E.  into  the  Kasai.  The 
adjacent  country  is  of  the  same  level  nature  as  that 
part  of  Londa  formerly  described;  but,  having  come 
farther  to  the  eastward  than  our  previous  course,  we 
found  that  all  the  rivers  had  worn  for  themselves  much 


HEADDRESSES    IN  LONDA 


RETURN  TO  THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.      215 

deeper  valleys  tlian  at  the  points  we  had  formerly 
crossed  them. 

"  Surrounded  on  all  sides  by  large  gloomy  forests, 
the  people  of  these  parts  have  a  much  more  indistinct 
idea  of  the  geography  of  their  country  than  those  who 
live  in  hilly  regions.  It  was  only  after  long  and  pa- 
tient inquiry  that  I  became  fully  persuaded  that  the 
Quilo  runs  into  the  Chikapa.  As  we  now  crossed  them 
both  considerably  farther  down,  and  were  greatly  to 
the  eastward  of  our  first  route,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  these  rivers  take  the  same  course  as  the  others, 
into  the  Kasai,  and  that  I  had  been  led  into  a  mistake 
in  saying  that  any  of  them  flowed  to  the  westward. 

"  The  people  seemed  more  slender  in  form,  and 
their  color  a  lighter  olive,  than  any  we  had  hitherto 
met.  The  mode  of  dressing  the  great  masses  of  woolly 
hair  which  lay  upon  their  shoulders,  together  with  their 
general  features,  again  reminded  me  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians.  Several  were  seen  with  the  upward  incli- 
nation of  the  outer  angles  of  the  eye,  but  this  was  not 
general.  A  few  of  the  ladies  adopt  a  curious  custom 
of  attaching  the  hair  to  a  hoop  which  encircles  the 
head,  giving  it  somewhat  the  appearance  of  the  glory 
round  the  head  of  the  Virgin.  Some  have  a  small 
hoop  behind  that  represented  in  the  wood-cut.  Oth- 
ers wear  an  ornament  of  woven  hair  and  hide  adorned 
with  beads.  The  hair  of  the  tails  of  buffaloes,  which 
are  to  be  found  farther  east,  is  sometimes  added  ;  while 
others  weave  their  own  hajr  on  pieces  of  hide  into  the 
form  of  bufialo  horns,  or  make  a  single  horn  in  front. 
The  features  given  are  frequently  met  with,  but  they 
are  by  no  means  universal.     Many  tattoo  their  bodies 


21 6  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  UTH  AFRICA. 

by  inserting  some  black  substance  beneath  the  skit, 
which  leaves  an  elevated  cicatrix  about  half  an  inch 
long :  these  are  made  in  the  form  of  stars,  and  other 
figures  of  no  particular  beauty. 

"  We  made  a  little  detour  to  the  southward  in  order 
to  get  provisions  in  a  cheaper  market.  This  led  us 
along  the  rivulet  called  Tamba,  where  we  found  the 
people,  who  had  not  been  visited  so  frequently  by  the 
slave-traders  as  the  rest,  rather  timid  and  very  civil. 
It  was  agreeable  to  get  again  among  the  uncontamin- 
ated,  and  to  see  the  natives  look  at  us  without  that  air 
of  superciliousness  which  is  so  unpleasant  and  common 
in  the  beaten  track.  The  same  olive  color  prevailed. 
They  file  their  teeth  to  a  point,  which  makes  the  smile 
of  the  women  frightful,  as  it  reminds  one  of  the  grin  of 
an  alligator.  The  inhabitants  throughout  this  country 
exhibit  as  great  a  variety  of  taste  as  appears  on  the  sur- 
face of  society  among  ourselves.  Many  of  the  men  are 
dandies ;  their  shoulders  are  always  wet  with  the  oil 
dropping  from  their  lubricated  hair,  and  everything 
about  them  is  ornamented  in  one  way  or  another. 
Some  thrum  a  musical  instrument  the  livelong  day, 
and,  when  they  wake  at  night,  proceed  at  once  to  their 
musical  performance.  Many  of  these  musicians  are  too 
poor  to  have  iron  keys  to  their  instrument,  but  make 
thorn  of  bamboo,  and  persevere,  though  no  one  hears 
the  music  but  themselves.  Others  try  to  appear  war- 
like by  never  going  out  of  their  huts  except  with  a  load 
of  bows  and  arrows,  or  a  gun  ornamented  with  a  strip 
of  hide  for  every  animal  they  have  shot;  and  others 
\ie.rer  go  anywhere  without  a  canary  in  a  cage.  Ladies 
may  be  seen  carefully  tending  little  lap-dogs,  which  are 


RETURN  TO   THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.      21  > 

Intended  to  be  eaten.  Thei/  villages  are  generally  i.i 
forests,  and  composed  of  groups  of  irregularly-planted 
brown  huts,  with  banana  and  cotton  trees,  and  tobacco 
growing  around.  There  is  also  at  every  hut  a  high 
stage  erected  for  drying  manioc  roots  and  meal,  and 
elevated  cages  to  hold  domestic  fowls.  Round  baskets 
are  laid  on  the  thatch  of  the  huts  for  the  hens  to  lay  m, 
and  on  the  arrival  of  strangers,  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren ply  their  calling  as  hucksters  with  a  great  deal  of 
noisy  haggling;  all  their  transactions  are  conducted 
with  civil  banter  and  good  temper. 

"  We  passed  on  through  forests  abounding  in  climb- 
ing-plants, many  of  which  are  so  extremely  tough  that 
a  man  is  required  to  go  in  front  with  a  hatchet ;  and 
when  the  burdens  of  the  carriers  are  caught,  they  are 
obliged  to  cut  the  climbers  with  their  teeth,  for  no 
amount  of  tugging  will  make  them  break.  The  paths 
in  all  these  forests  are  so  zigzag  that  a  person  may  im- 
agine he  has  travelled  a  distance  of  thirty  miles,  which, 
when  reckoned  as  the  crow  flies,  may  not  be  fifteen. 

"  We  crossed  two  small  streams,  the  Kanesi  and 
Fombeji,  before  reaching  Cabango,  a  village  situated  on 
the  banks  of  the  Chihombo.  The  country  was  becoming 
more  densely  peopled  as  we  proceeded,  but  it  bears  no 
population  compared  to  what  it  might  easily  sustain. 
Provisions  were  to  be  had  in  great  abundance;  a  fowl 
and  basket  of  meal  weighing  20  lbs.  were  sold  for  a 
yard  and  a  half  of  very  inferior  cotton  cloth,  worth  not 
more  than  three-pence." 

The  progress  of  the  party  was  so  slow,  on 
account  of  Livingstone's  illness,  and  the  many 
streams    to    be    crossed,    that    it    was    the    10th    of 


218  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

May  wl  an  they  reached  Cabango.  Here  they  re 
mained  until  the  21st.  It  would  have  been  quite  easy 
for  Livingstone  to  have  gone  on  to  the  town  of  Mati- 
amvo,  the  great  chief  of  the  powerful  Londa  tribe,  re- 
ports of  which  have  been  given  to  the  world  by  the 
Portuguese ;  but  his  duty  to  his  Makololo  followers 
compelled  him  to  renounce  the  chances  of  exploration. 

"  Cabango  (lat.  9°  31'  8.,  long.  20°  31  /  E.)  is  the 
dwelling-place  of  Muanzanza,  one  of  Matiamvo's 
subordinate  chiefs.  His  village  consists  of  about  two 
hundred  huts  and  ten  or  twelve  square  houses,  con- 
structed of  poles  with  grass  interwoven.  The  latter 
are  occupied  by  half-caste  Portuguese  from  Ambaca, 
agents  for  the  Cassange  traders.  The  cold  in  the 
mornings  was  now  severe  to  the  feelings,  the  thermom- 
eter ranging  from  58°  to  60°,  though,  when  pro- 
tected, sometimes  standing  as  high  as  64°  at  six  A.  M. 
When  the  sun  is  well  up,  the  thermometer  in  the 
shade  rises  to  80°,  and  in  the  evenings  it  is  about  78°. 

"A  person  having  died  in  this  village,  we  could 
transact  no  business  with  the  chief  until  the  funeral 
obsequies  were  finished.  These  occupy  about  four 
clays,  during  which  there  is  a  constant  succession  of 
dancing,  wailing,  and  feasting.  Guns  are  tired  by 
day,  and  drums  beaten  by  night,  and  all  the  relatives, 
dressed  in  fantastic  caps,  keep  up  the  ceremonies  with 
spirit  proportionate  to  the  amount  of  beer  and  beef 
expended.  When  there  is  a  large  expenditure,  the 
remark  is  often  made  afterward,  *  What  a  tine  funeral 
that  was!'  A  figure,  consisting  chiefly  of  feathers 
and  beads,  is  paraded  on  these  occasions,  and  seems  to 
be  regarded  as  an  idol. 


RETURN  TO  THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.     219 

"  As  ,?e  thought  it  best  to  strike  away  to  the  S. 
E.  from  Oabango  to  our  old  friend  Katema,  I  asked  a 
guide  from  Muanzanza  as  soon  as  the  funeral  proceed- 
ings were  over.  He  agreed  to  furnish  one,  and  also 
accepted  a  smaller  present  from  me  than  usual,  when 
it  was  represented  to  him  by  Pascoal  and  Faria  that  I 
was  not  a  trader.  We  were  forced  to  prepay  our 
guide  and  his  father  too,  and  he  went  but  one  day, 
although  he  promised  to  go  with  us  to  Katema.  He 
was  not  in  the  least  ashamed  at  breaking  his  engage- 
ments,  and  probably  no  disgrace  will  be  attached  to 
the  deed  by  Muanzanza.  Among  the  Bak wains  he 
would  have  been  punished.  My  men  would  have 
stripped  him  of  the  wages  which  he  wore  on  his 
person,  but  thought  that,  as  we  .had  always  acted  on 
the  mildest  principles,  they  would  let  him  move  off 
with  his  unearned  gains. 

"  On  the  28th  we  reached  the  village  of  the  chief 
Bango  who  brought  us  a  handsome  present  of  meal, 
and  the  meat  of  an  entire  pallah.  We  here  slaugh- 
tered the  last  of  the  cows  presented  to  us  in  Loanda, 
which  I  had  kept  milked  until  it  gave  only  a  teaspoon- 
ful  at  a  time.  My  men  enjoyed  a  hearty  laugh  when 
they  found  that  I  had  given  up  all  hope  of  more,  for 
they  had  been  talking  among  themselves  about  my 
perseverance.  We  offered  a  leg  of  the  cow  to  Bango, 
but  he  informed  us  that  neither  he  nor  his  people 
ever  partook  of  beef,  as  they  looked  upon  cattle  aa 
human,  and  living  at  home  like  men. 

"  We  left  Bango  on  the  30th  of  May,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  the  river  Loembwe,  which  abounds  in  hip- 
popotami.    It  is  about  sixty  yards  wide,  and  four  feet 


220  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

deep,  but  usually  contains  much  less  water  than  this, 
for  there  are  fishing-weirs  placed  right  across  it.  Like 
all  the  African  rivers  in  this  quarter,  it  has  morasses 
on  each  bank,  yet  the  valley  in  which  it  winds,  when 
seen  from  the  high  lands  above,  is  extremely  beautiful. 
This  VaJey  is  about  the  fourth  of  a  mile  wide,  and  it 
was  easy  to  fancy  the  similarity  of  many  spots  on  it  to 
the  goodly  manors  in  our  country,  and  feel  assured 
that  there  was  still  ample  territory  left  for  an  indefinite 
increase  of  the  world's  population.  The  villages  are 
widely  apart  and  difficult  of  access,  from  the  paths 
being  so  covered  with  tall  grass,  that  even  an  ox  can 
scarcely  follow  the  tract.  The  grass  cuts  the  feet  of 
the  men ;  yet  we  met  a  woman  with  a  little  child,  and 
a  girl,  wending  their  way  home  with  loads  of  manioc. 
The  sight  of  a  white  man  always  infuses  a  tremor  into 
their  dark  bosoms,  and  in  every  case  of  the  kind  they 
appeared  immensely  relieved  when  I  had  fairly  passed 
without  having  sprung  upon  them.  In  the  villages 
the  dogs  run  away  with  their  tails  between  their  1 
as  if  they  had  seen  a  lion.  The  women  peer  from  be- 
hind the  walls  till  he  comes  near  them,  and  then  has- 
tily dash  into  the  house.  When  a  little  child,  uncon- 
scious of  danger,  meets  you  in  the  street,  he  sets  uj>  a 
scream  at  the  apparition,  and  conveys  the  impression 
that  he  is  not  far  from  going  into  tits.  Among  the 
Bechuanas  I  have  been  obliged  to  reprove  the  women 
for  making  a  hobgoblin  of  the  white  man,  and  telling 
their  children  that  they  would  send  for  him  to  bite 
them. 

"  At  every  village  attempts  were  made  to  induce  us 
to  remain  a  night.     Sometimes  large  pots  of  beer  weio 


RETURN  TO  THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.     221 

offered  to  us  as  a  temptation.  Occasionally  the  head 
man  would  peremptorily  order  us  to  halt  under  a  tree 
which  he  pointed  out.  At  other  times  young  men 
volunteered  to  guide  us  to  the  impassable  part  of  the 
next  bog,  in  the  hope  of  bringing  us  to  a  stand,  for  all 
are  excessively  eager  to  trade ;  but  food  was  so  very 
cheap  that  we  sometimes  preferred  paying  them  to 
keep  it,  and  let  us  part  in  good  humor.  A  good-sized 
fowl  could  be  had  for  a  single  charge  of  gunpowder." 

The  only  difficulty  which  Livingstone  encountered 
was  with  a  chief  named  Kawawa,  who,  after  receiving 
him  in  a  friendly  manner,  demanded  tribute,  and,  when 
it  was  refused,  threatened  to  prevent  the  party  from 
crossing  the  great  Kasai  River,  which  they  were  ap- 
proaching. After  an  altercation  which  came  near  re- 
sulting in  bloodshed,  Livingstone  marched  away  from 
the  village  with  his  men. 

"  But  Kawawa,"  he  says,  u  was  not  to  be  balked  of 
his  supposed  rights  by  the  unceremonious  way  in 
which  we  had  left  him  ;  for,  when  we  had  reached  the 
ford  of  the  Kasai,  about  ten  miles  distant,  we  found 
that  he  had  sent  four  of  his  men,  with  orders  to  the 
ferrymen  to  refuse  us  passage.  We  were  here  duly 
informed  that  we  must  deliver  up  all  the  articles  men- 
tioned, and  one  of  our  men  besides.  This  demand  for 
one  of  our  number  always  nettled  every  heart.  The 
canoes  were  taken  away  before  our  eyes,  and  we  were 
supposed  to  be  quite  helpless  without  them,  at  a  river 
a  good  hundred  yards  broad,  and  very  deep.  Pitsane 
stood*  on  the  bank,  gazing  with  apparent  indifference 
vn  the  stream,  and  made  an  accurate  observation  of 
where  the  canoes  were  hidden  among  the  reeds.     The 


222  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

ferrymen  casually  asked  one  of  my  Batoka  if  they  had 
rivers  in  his  country,  and  he  answered  with  truth, 
'  No,  we  have  none.'  Kawawa's  people  then  felt  sure 
we  could  not  cross.  I  thought  of  swimming  when 
they  were  gone ;  but  after  it  was  dark,  by  the  unasked 
loan  of  one  of  the  hidden  canoes,  we  soon  were  snug 
in  our  bivouac  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Kasai.  I 
left  some  beads  as  payment  for  some  meal  which  had 
been  presented  by  the  ferrymen ;  and,  the  canoe  hav- 
ing been  left  on  their  own  side  of  the  river,  Pitsano 
and  his  companions  laughed  uproariously  at  the  dis- 
gust our  enemies  would  feel,  and  their  perplexity  as 
to  who  had  been  our  paddler  across.  They  were  quite 
sure  that  Kawawa  would  imagine  that  we  had  been 
ferried  over  by  his  own  people,  and  would  be  divining 
to  find  out  who  had  done  the  deed.  When  ready  to 
depart  in  the  morning,  Kawawa's  people  appeared  on 
the  opposite  heights,  and  could  scarcely  believe  their 
eyes  when  they  saw  us  prepared  to  start  away  to  the 
south.  At  last  one  of  them  called  out,  '  Ah  !  ye  are 
bad,'  to  which  Pitsane  and  his  companions  retorted, 
1  Ah  !  ye  are  good,  and  we  thank  you.  for  the  loan  of 
your  canoe.'  We  were  careful  to  explain  the  whole 
of  the  circumstances  to  Katema  and  the  other  ch; 
and  they  all  agreed  that  we  were  perfectly  justifiable 
under  the  circumstances,  and  that  Matiamvo  would 
approve  our  conduct. 

"After  leaving  the  Kasai,  we  entered  upon  the 
extensive  level  plains  which  we  had  formerly  found  in 
a  flooded  condition.  The  water  on  them  was  not  yet 
dried  up,  as  it  still  remained  in  certain  hollow  spots. 
Vultures  were  seen  floating  in  the  air,  showing  that 


RETURN  TO  THE  MAKCLOLO  COUNTRY.      223 

carrion  was  to  be  found;  and,  indeed,  we  saw  several 
of  the  large  game,  but  so  exceedingly  wild  as  to  be 
[inapproachable.  Numbers  of  caterpillars  mounted 
the  stalks  of  grass,  and  many  dragonflies  and  butter- 
flies appeared,  though  this  was  winter. 

"  During  our  second  day  on  this  extensive  plain  I 
suffered  from  my  twenty-seventh  attack  of  fever,  at  a 
part  where  no  surface-water  was  to  be  found.  We 
never  thought  it  necessary  to  carry  water  with  us  in  this 
region  ;  and  now,  when  I  was  quite  unable  to  move  on. 
my  men  soon  found  water  to  allay  my  burning  thirst 
by  digging  with  sticks  a  few  feet  beneath  the  surface. 
We  had  thus  an  opportunity  of  observing  the  state  of 
these  remarkable  plains  at  different  seasons  of  the  year. 
Next  day  we  pursued  our  way,  and  on  the  8th  of  June 
we  forded  the  Lotembwa  to  the  N.W.  of  Dilolo,  and 
regained  our  former  path." 

Nothing  further  occurred  to  interrupt  the  progress 
of  the  party.  The  chief  Katema  received  them  kindly, 
and,  after  a  short  rest  at  his  village,  they  proceeded 
onward  across  the  many  tributaries  of  the  Leeba,  then 
that  river  itself,  and  finally  reached  the  town  of  the 
friendly  Shinte,  on  the  24th  of  June. 

"  We  received  a  hearty  welcome  from  this  friendly 
old  man,  and  abundant  provisions  of  the  best  he  had. 
On  hearing  the  report  of  the  journey  given  by  my  com- 
panions, and  receiving  a  piece  of  cotton  cloth  about  two 
yards  square,  he  said,  '  These  Mambari  cheat  us  by 
bringing  little  pieces  only  ;  but  the  next  time  you  pass 
I  shall  send  men  with  you  to  trade  for  me  in  Loan- 
da.'  When  I  explained  the  use  made  of  the  slaves  he 
«old,  and  that  he  was  just  destroying  his  own  tribe  by 


224  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

selling  his  people,  and  enlarging  that  of  the  Mambari 
for  the  sake  of  these  small  pieces  of  cloth,  it  seemed  to 
him  quite  a  new  idea.  He  entered  into  a  long  detail  of 
his  troubles  with  Masiko,  who  had  prevented  him  from 
cultivating  that  friendship  with  the  Makololo  which  I 
had  inculcated,  and  had  even  plundered  the  messengers 
he  had  sent  with  Kolimbota  to  the  Barotse  valley. 

"  As  I  had  been  desirous  of  introducing  some  of  the 
fruit-trees  of  Angola,  both  for  my  own  sake  and  that 
of  the  inhabitants,  we  had  carried  a  pot  containing  a 
little  plantation  of  orange,  cashew-trees,  custard-apple- 
trees,  and  a  fig-tree,  with  coifee,  aracas,  and  papaws. 
Fearing  that  if  we  took  them  farther  south  at  present 
they  might  be  killed  by  the  cold,  we  planted  them  out 
in  an  inclosure  of  one  of  Shinte's  principal  men,  and,  at 
his  request,  promised  to  give  Shinte  a  share  when 
grown.  They  know  the  value  of  fruits,  but  at  present 
have  none  except  wild  ones.  A  wild  fruit  we  fre- 
quently met  with  in  Londa  is  eatable,  and,  when 
boiled,  yields  a  large  quantity  of  oil,  which  is  much 
used  in  anointing  both  head  and  body.  He  eagerly 
accepted  some  of  the  seeds  of  the  palm-oil-tree  when 
told  that  this  would  produce  oil  in  much  greater  quan- 
tity than  their  native  tree,  which  is  not  a  palm. 

"  We  parted  on  the  best  possible  terms  with  our 
friend  Shinte,  and  proceeded  by  our  former  path  to 
the  village  of  his  sister  JSTyamoana,  who  is  now  a 
widow.  She  received  us  with  much  apparent  feeling, 
and  said,  '  We  had  removed  from  our  former  abode 
to  the  place  where  you  found  us,  and  had  no  idea 
then  that  it  was  the  spot  where  my  husband  was 
to  die.*     She  had  come  to  the  river  Lofuje,  as  they 


RETURN  TO  THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.     225 

never  remain  in  a  place  where  death  has  once  visited 
them.  We  received  the  loan  of  five  small  canoes 
from  her,  and  also  one  of  those  we  had  left  here  before, 
to  proceed  down  the  Leeba.  After  viewing  the 
Coanza  at  Massangano,  I  thought  the  Leeba  at  least 
a  third  larger,  and  upward  of  two  hundred  yards  wide. 
We  saw  evidence  of  its  rise  during  its  last  flood 
having  been  upward  of  forty  feet  in  perpendicular 
height ;  but  this  is  probably  more  than  usual,  as  the 
amount  of  rain  was  above  the  average.  My  compan- 
ions purchased  also  a  number  of  canoes  from  the 
Balonda.  These  are  very  small,  and  can  carry  only  two 
persons.  They  are  made  quite  thin  and  light,  and  as 
sharp  as  racing-skiffs,  because  they  are  used  in  hunt- 
ing animals  in  the  water.  The  price  paid  was  a  string 
of  beads  equal  to  the  length  of  the  canoe.  We  ad- 
vised them  to  bring  canoes  for  sale  to  the  Makololo, 
as  they  would  gladly  give  them  cows  in  exchange." 

Livingstone  waited  a  day  or  two  to  see  the  chief- 
tainess  Manenko,  and  while  there,  became  a  blood- 
relation  to  her  husband  Maneako,  each  drinking  a  few 
drops  of  the  other's  blood,  in  a  pot  of  beer.  "  On  one 
occasion,"  he  says,  "  I  became  blood-relation  to  a  young 
woman  by  accident.  She  had  a  large  cartilaginous 
tumor  between  the  bones  of  the  fore-arm,  which,  as  it 
gradually  enlarged,  so  distended  the  muscles  as  to 
render  her  unable  to  work.  She  applied  to  me  to 
excise  it.  I  requested  her  to  bring  her  husband,  if 
he  were  willing  to  have  the  operation  performed,  and, 
while  removing  the  tumor,  one  of  the  small  arteries 
Bquirted  some  blood  into  my  eye.  She  remarked, 
when  I  was  wiping  the  blood  out  of  it,  '  You  were  a 
IS 


226  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

friend  before,  now  you  are  a  blood-relation ;  and  when 
you  pass  this  way,  always  send  me  word,  that  I  may 
cook  food  for  you.'  In  creating  these  friendships,  my 
men  had  the  full  intention  of  returning ;  each  one  had 
his  molehane  (friend)  in  every  village  of  the  friendly 
Balonda. 

"  We  reached  the  town  of  Libonta  on  the  27th  of 
July,  and  were  received  with  demonstrations  of  joy 
such  as  I  had  never  witnessed  before.  The  women 
came  forth  to  meet  us,  making  their  curious  dancing 
gestures  and  loud  lulliloos.  Some  carried  a  mat  and 
stick,  in  imitation  of  a  spear  and  shield.  Others 
rushed  forward  and  kissed  the  hands  and  cheeks  of  the 
different  persons  of  their  acquaintance  among  us,  rais- 
ing such  a  dust  that  it  was  quite  a  relief  to  get  to  the 
men  assembled  and  sitting  with  proper  African  de- 
corum in  the  kotla.  We  were  looked  upon  as  men 
risen  from  the  dead,  for  the  most  skillful  of  their 
diviners  had  pronounced  us  to  have  perished  long  ago. 
After  many  expressions  of  joy  at  meeting,  I  arose,  and, 
thanking  them,  explained  the  causes  of  our  long  de- 
lay, but  left  the  report  to  be  made  by  their  own  coun- 
trymen. Formerly  I  had  been  the  chief  speaker,  now 
I  would  leave  the  task  of  speaking  to  them.  Pitsano 
then  delivered  a  speech  of  upward  of  an  hour  in 
length,  giving  a  highly  flattering  picture  of  the  whole 
journey,  of  the  kindness  of  the  white  men  in  general, 
and  of  Mr.  Gabriel  in  particular.  He  concluded  by 
saying  that  I  had  done  more  for  them  than  they  '\- 
pecled;  that  I  had  not  only  opened  up  a  path  for 
them  to  the  other  white  men,  but  conciliated  all 
the  chiefs  along  the  route. 


RETURN  TO  THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.      227 

"  My  men  decked  themselves  out  in  their  best,  and 
I  found  that,  although  their  goods  were  finished,  they 
had  managed  to  save  suits  of  European  clothing, 
which,  being  white,  with  their  red  caps,  gave  them 
rather  a  dashing  appearance.  They  tried  to  walk  like 
the  soldiers  the}7-  had  seen  in  Loanda,  and  called  them- 
selves my  '  braves '  (batlabani).  During  the  service 
they  all  sat  with  their  guns  over  their  shoulders,  and 
excited  the  unbounded  admiration  of  the  women  and 
children.  I  addressed  them  all  on  the  goodness  of 
God  in  preserving  us  from  all  the  dangers  of  strange 
tribes  and  disease.  We  had  a  similar  service  in  the 
afternoon.  The  men  gave  us  two  fine  oxen  for  slaugh- 
ter, and  the  women  supplied  us  abundantly  with  milk, 
meal,  and  butter.  It  was  all  quite  gratuitous,  and  I 
it  It  ashamed  that  I  could  make  no  return.  My  men 
explained  the  total  expenditure  of  our  means,  and  the 
Libontese  answered  gracefully,  'It  does  not  matter; 
you  have  opened  a  path  for  us,  and  we  shall  have 
sleep.'  Strangers  came  flocking  from  a  distance,  and 
seldom  empty-handed.  Their  presents  I  distributed 
among  my  men. 

"  Our  progress  down  the  Barotse  valley  was  just 
like  this.  Every  village  gave  us  an  ox,  and  sometimes 
two.  The  people  were  wonderfully  kind.  I  felt, 
and  still  feel,  most  deeply  grateful,  and  tried  to  ben- 
efit them  in  the  only  way  I  could,  by  imparting  the 
knowledge  of  that  Saviour  who  can  comfort  and  supply 
them  in  the  time  of  need,  and  my  prayer  is  that  he 
may  send  his  good  Spirit  to  instruct  them  and  lead 
them  into  his  kingdom.  Even  now  I  earnestly  long  to 
return,  and  make  .  some  recompense  to  them  for 
their  kindness. 


228  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

"  On  reaching  Naliele  on  the  1st  of  August  we 
found  Mpololo  in  great  affliction  on  account  of  the 
death  of  his  daughter  and  her  child.  She  had  been 
lately  confined ;  and  her  father  naturally  remembered 
her  when  an  ox  was  slaughtered,  or  when  the  tribute 
of  other  food,  which  he  receives  in  lieu  of  Sekeletu, 
came  in  his  way,  and  sent  frequent  presents  to  her. 
This  moved  the  envy  of  one  of  the  Makololo  who 
hated  Mpololo,  and  wishing  to  vex  him,  he  entered  the 
daughter's  hut  by  night,  and  strangled  both  her  and 
her  child.  He  then  tried  to  make  fire  in  the  hut  and 
burn  it,  so  that  the  murder  might  not  be  known  ;  but 
the  squeaking  noise  of  rubbing  the  sticks  awakened  a 
servant,  and  the  murderer  was  detected.  Both  he  and 
his  wife  were  thrown  into  the  river;  the  latter  having 
*  known  of  her  husband's  intentions,  and  not  revealing 
them.'  She  declared  she  had  dissuaded  him  from  the 
crime,  and,  had  any  one  interposed  a  word,  she  might 
have  been  spared. 

"  I  left  Naliele  on  the  13th  of  August,  and,  when 
proceeding  along  the  shore  at  midday,  a  hippopotamus 
struck  the  canoe  with  her  forehead,  lifting  one  half  of 
it  quite  out  of  the  water,  so  as  nearly  to  overturn  it. 
The  force  of  the  butt  she  gave  tilted  Mashauana  out 
into  the  river;  the  rest  of  us  sprang  to  the  shore, 
which  was  only  about  ten  yards  off.  Glancing  bark, 
I  saw  her  come  to  the  surface  a  short  way  off,  and  look 
to  the  canoe,  as  if  to  see  if  she  had  done  much  mis- 
chief. It  was  a  female,  whose  young  one  had  been 
Bpeared  the  day  before.  No  damage  was  done  except 
wetting  person  and  goods.  This  is  so  unusual  an  oc- 
currence, when  the  precaution  is  taken  to  coast  along 


HIPPOPOTAMUS   UPSETTING   A   BOAT. 


RETURN  TO  THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.     229 

the  shore,  that  my  men  exclaimed,  '  Is  the  beast 
mad  ? '  There  were  eight  of  us  in  the  canoe  at  the 
time,  and  the  shake  it  received  shows  the  immense 
power  of  this  animal  in  the  water. 

"  Having  got  the  loan  of  other  canoes  from  Mpololo, 
and  three  oxen  as  provision  for  the  way,  which  made 
the  number  we  had  been  presented  with  in  the  Barotse 
valley  amount  to  thirteen,  we  proceeded  down  the 
river  toward  Sesheke,  and  were  as  much  struck  as 
formerly  with  the  noble  river.  The  whole  scenery  is 
lovely,  though  the  atmosphere  is  murky  in  consequence 
of  the  continuance  of  the  smoky  tinge  of  winter. 

"Long  before  reaching  Sesheke  we  had  been  in- 
formed that  a  party  of  Matebele,  the  people  of  Mo- 
silikatse,  had  brought  some  packages  of  goods  for  me 
to  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  near  the  Victoria  Falls, 
and,  though  they  declared  that  they  had  been  sent  by 
Mr.  Moffat,  the  Makololo  had  refused  to  credit  the 
statement  of  their  sworn  enemies.  They  imagined 
that  the  parcels  were  directed  to  me  as  a  mere  trick, 
whereby  to  place  witchcraft-medicine  into  the  hands 
of  the  Makololo.  When  the  Matebele  on  the  south 
bank  called  to  the  Makololo  on  the  north  to  come  over 
in  canoes  and  receive  the  goods  sent  by  Moffat  to 
'  Nake,'  the  Makololo  replied,  '  Go  along  with  you,  wo 
know  better  than  that ;  how  could  he  tell  Moffat  to 
send  his  things  here,  he  having  gone  away  to  the 
north  ? '  The  Matebele  answered,  '  Here  are  the 
goods ;  we  place  them  now  before  you,  and  if  you  leave 
them  to  perish  the  guilt  will  be  yours.'  When  they 
had  departed  the  Makololo  thought  better  of  it,  and, 
after  much  divination,  went  over  with  fear  and  trem- 


230  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

bling,  and  carried  the  packages  carefully  to  an  island  in 
the  middle  of  the  stream ;  then,  building  a  hut  over 
them  to  protect  them  from  the  weather,  they  left 
them ;  and  there  I  found  they  had  remained  from 
September,  1854,  till  September,  1855,  in  perfect 
safety.  Here,  as  I  had  often  experienced  before,  I 
found  the  news  was  very  old,  and  had  lost  much  of  its 
interest  by  keeping,  but  there  were  some  good  eata- 
ables  from  Mrs.  Moffat. 

"  Having  waited  a  few  days  at  Sesheke  till  the 
horses  which  we  had  left  at  Linyanti  should  arrive,  we 
proceeded  to  that  town,  and  found  the  wagon,  and 
everything  we  had  left  in  November,  1853,  perfectly 
safe.  A  grand  meeting  of  all  the  people  was  called  to 
receive  our  report,  and  the  articles  which  had  been 
sent  by  the  governor  and  merchants  of  Loanda.  I  ex- 
plained that  none  of  these  were  my  property,  but  that 
they  were  sent  to  show  the  friendly  feelings  of  the 
white  men,  and  their  eagerness  to  enter  into  commer- 
cial relations  with  the  Makololo.  I  then  requested 
my  companions  to  give  a  true  account  of  what  they 
had  seen.  The  wonderful  things  lost  nothing  in  the 
telling,  the  climax  always  being  that  they  had  finished 
the  whole  world,  and  had  turned  only  when  there  was 
no  more  land.  One  glib  old  gentleman  asked,  '  Then 
you  reached  Ma  Robert  (Mrs.  L)?'  They  were 
obliged  to  confess  that  she  lived  a  little  beyond  the 
world.  The  presents  were  received  with  expressions 
of  great  satisfaction  and  delight;  and  on  Sunday,  when 
Sckeletu  made  his  appearance  at  church  in  his  uni- 
form, it  attracted  more  attention  than  the  sermon; 
and  the  kind  expressions  they  made  use  of  respecting 


THE    VILLAGE   OF   SKULLS. 


RE  TURN  TO  THE  M* i  KOL OLO  AO  UNTR  Y.     23 1 

myself  were  so  very  flattering  that  I  felt  inclined  to 
shut  my  eyes.  Their  private  opinion  must  have  tal- 
lied with  their  public  report,  for  I  very  soon  received 
offers  from  volunteers  to  accompany  me  to  the  east 
coast." 

[In  his  narrative  Livingstone  omits  the  relation  of 
the  manner  in  which  the  goods  had  been  forwarded 
by  Mr.  Moffat  to  the  island  on  the  Zambesi. 

His  father-in-law,  still  full  of  energy  in  spite  of  his 
age,  had  determined  that  no  chance  should  be  lost  of 
forwarding  supplies ;  and  undertook  the  task  himself, 
since  it  involved  a  journey  into  the  Matebele  country, 
which  (as  the  reader  will  see  by  referring  to  Chapter 
in.)  he  had  first  visited  in  1829.  The  famous  chief, 
Mosilikatse,  was  still  living,  though  very  old,  and 
Moffat  believed  that — although  the  Matebele  and  Mak- 
ololo  were  hostile — he  could  prevail  upon  the  chief  to 
forward  supplies  to  Livingstone  through  his  country. 

Starting  from  Kuruman,  in  the  spring  of  1854, 
Moffat  travelled  about  400  miles,  in  a  north-eastern 
direction,  before  reaching  the  frontiers  of  the  Matabele 
tribe.  After  a  journey  of  several  weeks,  he  arrived  at 
the  Village  of  Skulls,  the  town  of  Mosilikatse.  Each 
hut  is  surrounded  with  high  poles,  every  one  of  which 
is  crowned  with  the  skulls  of  those  slain  by  the  owner 
of  the  hut.  The  surrounding  country  was  mountain- 
ous, but  very  beautiful  and  fertile,  and  the  people  were 
becoming  agricultural  in  their  habits. 

The  first  interview  which  Moffat  had  with  the  old 
chief  was  an  evidence  that  the  latter  possessed  some 
native  goodness  of  heart,  in  spite  of  the  savage  acts  of 
which  he  had  been  guilty  during  all   his   long   life. 


232  TRA  VELS  IX  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

Mosilikatse  was  carried  in  a  kind  of  chair  to  meet  the 
missionary.  The  hero  of  so  many  battles  was  hardly 
to  be  recognized.  His  body  and  his  legs  were  so 
swollen  by  dropsy  that  he  could  neither  walk  nor  sit 
erect.  When  he  saw  Moffat,  he  grasped  his  hand 
silently,  then  threw  his  garment  over  his  face  and 
wept. 

Many  times  he  repeated  the  words :  "  Surely,  I  am 
only  dreaming  that  you  are  Moffat,"  and  then  said : 
"  Matshobane  (the  name  of  my  father)  I  will  call  you, 
because  you  have  been  a  father  to  me.  You  have 
made  my  heart  as  soft  as  milk.  I  cannot  cease  to  won- 
der at  the  affection  of  a  stranger.  You  have  never 
6een  me  before,  and  yet  you  love  me  more  than  any 
one  of  my  own  people.  You  have  fed  me,  when  I  was 
hungry;  yon  have  clothed  me,  when  I  was  naked; 
you  have  held  me  in  your  bosom,  and  your  arm  has 
protected  me  from  my  enemies." 

When  Moffat  answered  that  he  was  not  conscious 
of  having  rendered  him  any  of  these  services,  the  chief 
pointed  to  two  native  messengers  who  had  seated  them- 
selves at  the  missionary's  feet,  and  answered:  "These 
two  are  very  important  men ;  Umbate  is  my  right 
hand.  When  I  send  them  where  the  white  men  live, 
I  send  my  ears,  my  eyes,  and  my  mouth  with  them. 
What  they  have  heard,  I  hear ;  what  they  have  seen,  I 
see ;  and  what  they  have  said,  was  said  by  Mosilikatse. 
You  have  fed  and  clothed  them,  and  when  their  lives 
were  in  danger,  you  were  their  shield.  What  you  did 
to  them,  that  you  did  to  me." 

Pointing  to  his  dropsical  legs,  which  he  declared 
would  soon  bring  him  to  death,  he  added  :  "  Your  God 


RETURN  TO  THE  MAKOLOLO  COUNTRY.      233 

has  sent  you  to  me,  to  give  me  help  and  healing." 
Moffat  undertook  the  treatment  of  his  case,  and  was 
fortunate  enough  to  enable  him  to  walk  a  little ;  but 
he  was  always  obliged  to  administer  the  medicine  him- 
self, as  the  chief  was  in  constant  fear  of  being  poisoned 
by  his  wives. 

The  journey  was  entirely  successful.  The  Mate- 
bele,  as  we  have  seen,  took  charge  of  the  supplies  for 
Livingstone,  carried  them  to  the  Zambesi,  and  there 
conscientiously  deposited  them,  leaving  the  further 
responsibility  of  their  care  to  the  Makololo.  Moffat 
ret  iin  ied  in  safety  to  Kuruman.] 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


Livingstone's  journey  across  the  continent. 


VI. DOWN    THE    ZAMBESI    TO  THE     EASTERN     COAST. 

HAYING  found  it  impracticable  to  open  a  wagon- 
road  to  the  western  coast,  it  was  now  necessary 
that  Livingstone  should  make  choice  of  route  by  which 
the  Indian  Ocean  might  be  reached.  The  Arab  tra 
ders  to  be  transported  from  Zanzibar  to  the  Makololo 
country  assured  him  that  he  could  return  upon  their 
track  with  safety,  by  way  of  the  great  lake  Tangany- 
ika, which  had  not  then  been  reached  by  any  white 
man;  but  he  was  anxious  to  ascertain  whether  the 
Zambesi  River  might  not  be  a  navigable  stream  for 
some  distance  into  the  interior.  His  first  desire,  of 
course,  was  to  follow  the  river.  The  Makololo,  how- 
ever, who  were  acquainted  with  the  country  as  far 
eastward  as  the  Kafue,  a  large  tributary  of  the  Zam- 
besi, objected  to  this,  declaring  that  the  country  was 
so  broken  and  rocky  as  to  render  it  almost  impassable. 
They  proposed  a  direct  course  eastward,  on  the 
northern  side  of  the  Zambesi,  to  the  Kafue,  and  then  a 
journey  along  the  former  river  to  the  first  Portuguese 
station  at  Tete.  As  Livingstone  was  indebted  to 
Sekeletu  for  much  of  his  outfit,  and  his  success,  as  on 
the  westward  journey,  would  depend  entirely  on  the 
conduct  of  his  followers,  he    felt   obliged  to  accept 


DOWN  THE  ZAMBESI.  235 

their  decision.  So  much  of  his  great  design  had 
already  been  accomplished,  that  it  scarcely  seemed 
necessary  to  hazard  the  remaining  portion  without  the 
certainty  of  some  advantage  in  return.  We  will  now 
let  him  resume  his  narrative : 

"  On  the  3d  of  November  we  bade  adieu  to  our 
friends  at  Linyanti,  accompanied  by  Sekeletu  and 
about  200  followers.  We  were  all  fed  at  his  expense, 
and  he  took  cattle  for  this  purpose  from  every  station 
we  came  to.  The  principal  men  of  the  Makololo, 
Lebeole,  Ntlarie,  Nkwatlele,  etc.,  were  also  of  the 
party.  We  passed  through  the  patch  of  the  tsetse, 
which  exists  between  Linyanti  and  Sesheke,  by  night. 
The  majority  of  the  company  went  on  by  daylight,  in 
order  to  prepare  our  beds.  Sekeletu  and  I,  with  about 
forty  young  men,  waited  outside  the  tsetse  till  dark. 
We  then  wTent  forward,  and  about  ten  o'clock  it  be- 
came so  pitchy  dark  that  both  horses  and  men  were 
completely  blinded.  The  lightning  spread  over  the 
sky,  forming  eight  or  ten  branches  at  a  time,  in  shape 
exactly  like  those  of  a  tree.  This,  with  great  volumes 
of  sheet-lightning,  enabled  us  at  times  to  see  the  whole 
country.  The  intervals  between  the  flashes  were  so 
densely  dark  as  to  convey  the  idea  of  stone-blindness 
The  horses  trembled,  cried  out,  and  turned  round, 
as  if  searching  for  each  other,  and  every  new  flash  re- 
vealed the  men  taking  different  directions,  laughing, 
and  stumbling  against  each  other. 

"  While  at  Sesheke,  Sekeletu  supplied  me  with 
twelve  oxen — three  of  which  were  accustomed  to  be- 
ing ridden  upon — hoes,  and  beads  to  purchase  a  canoe 
when  we  should  strike  the  Leeambye  beyond  the  falls. 


23G  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

lie  likewise  presented  abundance  of  good  fresh  butter 
and  honey,  and  did  everything  in  his  power  to  make 
me  comfortable  for  the  journey.  I  was  entirely  depen- 
dent on  his  generosity,  for  the  goods  I  originally 
brought  from  the  Cape  were  all  expended  by  the  time 
I  set  oif  from  Linyanti  to  the  west  coast.  I  there  drew 
£70  of  my  salary,  paid  my  men  with  it,  and  purchase*) 
goods  for  the  return  journey  to  Linyanti.  These  being 
now  all  expended,  the  Makololo  again  fitted  me  out, 
and  sent  me  on  to  the  east  coast.  I  was  thus  depen- 
dent on  their  bounty,  and  that  of  other  Africans,  for 
the  means  of  going  from  Linyanti  to  Loanda,  and 
again  from  Linyanti  to  the  east  coast,  and  I  feel  deeply 
grateful  to  them.  Coin  would  have  been  of  no  benefit, 
for  gold  and  silver  are  quite  unknown. 

"  As  this  was  the  point  from  which  we  intended  to 
strike  off  to  the  north-east,  I  resolved  on  the  following 
day  to  visit  the  Falls  of  Yictoria,  called  by  the  natives 
Mosioatunya,  or  more  anciently  Shongwe.  Of  these 
wTe  had  often  heard  since  we  came  into  the  country  ; 
indeed,  one  of  the  questions  asked  by  Sebituane  was, 
*  Have  you  smoke  that  sounds  in  your  country  ? ' 
They  did  not  go  near  enough  to  examine  them,  but, 
viewing  them  with  awe  at  a  distance,  said,  in  reference 
to  the  vapor  and  noise,  *  Mosi  oa  tunya '  (smoke  does 
sound  there).  It  was  previously  called  Shongwe,  the 
meaning  of  which  I  could  not  ascertain.  The  word 
for  a  'pot'  resembles  this,  and  it  may  mean  a  seething 
caldron,  but  I  am  not  certain  of  it.  Being  persuaded 
that  Mr.  Oswell  and  myself  were  the  verv  first  Euro- 
peans who  ever  visited  the  Zambesi  in  the  centre  of  the 
country,  and  that  this  is  the  connecting  link  between 


DOWN  THE  ZAMBESI.  237 

the  known  and  unknown  portions  of  that  river,  I  de- 
cided to  use  the  same  liberty  as  the  Makololo  did,  and 
gave  the  only  English  name  I  have  affixed  to  any  part 
of  the  country. 

"  Sekeletu  intended  to  accompany  me,  but  one 
canoe  only  having  come  instead  of  the  two  he  had 
ordered,  he  resigned  it  to  me.  After  twenty  minutes' 
sail  from  Kalai  we  came  in  sight,  for  the  first  time,  of 
the  columns  of  vapor  appropriately  called  'smoke,' 
rising  at  a  distance  of  five  or  six  miles,  exactly  as  when 

large  tracts  of  grass  are  burned  in  Africa.     Five  col- 
es o 

uinns  now  arose,  and,  bending  in  the  direction  of  the 
wind,  they  seemed  placed  against  a  low  ridge  covered 
with  trees ;  the  tops  of  the  columns  at  this  distance 
appeared  to  mingle  with  the  clouds.  They  were  white 
below,  and  higher  up  became  dark,  so  as  to  simulate 
smoke  very  closely.  The  whole  scene  was  extremely 
beautiful ;  the  banks  and  islands  dotted  over  the  river 
are  adorned  with  sylvan  vegetation  of  great  variety  of 
color  and  form.  At  the  period  of  our  visit  several 
trees  were  spangled  over  with  blossoms.  Some  trees 
resemble  the  great  spreading  oak,  others  assume  the 
character  of  our  own  elms  and  chestnuts ;  but  no  one 
can  imagine  the  beauty  of  the  view  from  anything 
witnessed  in  England.  It  had  never  been  seen  before 
by  European  eyes;  but  scenes  so  lovely  must  have 
been  gazed  upon  by  angels  in  their  flight.  The  only 
want  felt  is  that  of  mountains  in  the  background.  The 
falls  are  bounded  on  three  sides  by  ridges  300  or  400 
feet  in  height,  which  are  covered  with  forest,  with  the 
red  soil  appearing  among  the  trees.  When  about  half 
a  mile  from  the  falls,  I  left  the  canoe  by  which  we  had 


$38  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

come  down  thus  far,  and  embarked  in  a  lighter  one, 
with  men  well  acquainted  with  the  rapids,  who,  by 
passing  down  the  centre  of  the  stream  in  the  eddies 
and  still  places  caused  by  many  jutting  rocks,  brought 
me  to  an  island  situated  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  and 
on  the  edge  of  the  lip  over  which  the  water  rolls.  In 
coming  hither  there  was  danger  of  being  swept  down 
by  the  streams  which  rushed  along  on  each  side  of  the 
island ;  but  the  river  was  now  low,  and  we  sailed 
where  it  is  totally  impossible  to  go  when  the  water  is 
high.  But,  though  we  had  reached  the  island,  and 
were  within  a  few  yards  of  the  spot,  a  view  from 
which  would  solve  the  whole  problem,  I  believe  that 
no  one  could  perceive  where  the  vast  body  of  water 
went ;  it  seemed  to  lose  itself  in  the  earth,  the  oppo- 
site lip  of  the  fissure  into  which  it  disappeared  being 
only  80  feet  distant.  At  least  I  did  not  comprehend 
it  until,  creeping  with  awe  to  the  verge,  I  peered 
down  into  a  large  rent  which  had  been  made  from 
bank  to  bank  of  the  broad  Zambesi,  and  saw  that  a 
stream  of  a  thousand  yards  broad  leaped  down  a  hun- 
dred feet,  and  then  became  suddenly  compressed  into 
a  space  of  fifteen  or  twenty  yards.  The  entire  falls 
are  simply  a  crack  made  in  a  hard  basaltic  rock  from 
the  right  to  the  left  bank  of  the  Zambesi,  and  then 
prolonged  from  the  left  bank  away  through  thirty  or 
forty  miles  of  hills.  If  one  imagines  the  Thames  filled 
with  low,  tree-covered  hills  immediately  beyond  the 
tunnel,  extending  as  far  as  Gravesend,  the  bed  of 
black  basaltic  rock  instead  of  London  mud,  and  a  fis- 
Bure  made  therein  from  one  end  of  the  tunnel  to  the 
Other  down  through  the  keystones  of  the  arch,  and 


DOWN  THE  ZAMBESI.  239 

prolonged  from  the  left  end  of  the  tunnel  through 
thirty  miles  of  hills,  the  pathway  being  100  feet  down 
from  the  bed  of  the  river  instead  of  what  it  is,  with 
the  lips  of  the  h'ssure  from  80  to  100  feet  apart,  then 
fancy  the  Thames  leaping  bodily  into  the  gulf,  and 
forced  there  to  change  its  direction,  and  flow  from  the 
right  to  the  left  bank,  and  then  rush  boiling  and  roar- 
ing through  the  hills,  he  may  have  some  idea  of  what 
takes  place  at  this,  the  most  wonderful  sight  I  had 
witnessed  in  Africa.  In  looking  down  into  the  fissure 
on  the  right  of  the  island,  one  sees  nothing  but  a 
dense  white  cloud,  which,  at  the  time  we  visited  the 
spot,  had  two  bright  rainbows  on  it.  (The  sun  was 
on  the  meridian,  and  the  declination  about  equal  to 
the  latitude  of  the  place).  From  this  cloud  rushed  up 
a  great  jet  of  vapor  exactly  like  steam,  and  it  mounted 
200  or  300  feet  high ;  there  condensing,  it  changed  its 
hue  to  that  of  dark  smoke,  and  came  back  in  a  con- 
stant shower,  which  soon  wetted  us  to  the  skin.  This 
shower  falls  chiefly  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  fissure, 
and  a  few  yards  back  from  the  lip  there  stands  a 
straight  hedge  of  evergreen  trees,  whose  leaves  are 
always  wet.  From  their  roots  a  number  of  little  rills 
run  back  into  the  gulf,  but,  as  they  flow  down  the 
steep  wall  there,  the  column  of  vapor,  in  its  ascent, 
licks  them  up  clean  off  the  rock,  and  away  they  mount 
again.  They  are  constantly  running  down,  but  nevei 
reach  the  bottom. 

u  On  the  left  of  the  island  we  see  the  water  at  the 
bottcm,  a  white  rolling  mass  moving  away  to  the  pro- 
.ongation  of  the  fissure,  which  branches  off  near  the 
left  bank  of  the  river.     A  piece  of  the  rock  has  fallen 


240  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

off  a  spot  on  the  left  of  the  island,  and  juts  out  from 
the  water  below,  and  from  it  I  judged  the  distance 
which  the  water  falls  to  be  about  100  feet.  The  walls 
of  this  gigantic  crack  are  perpendicular,  and  composed 
of  one  homogeneous  mass  of  rock. 

"  On  the  left  side  of  the  island  we  have  a  good  view 
of  the  mass  of  water  which  causes  one  of  the  columns 
of  vapor  to  ascend,  as  it  leaps  quite  clear  of  the  rock, 
and  forms  a  thick  unbroken  fleece  all  the  way  to  the 
bottom.  Its  whiteness  gave  the  idea  of  snow,  a  sight 
I  had  not  seen  for  many  a  day.  As  it  broke  into  (if  I 
may  use  the  term)  pieces  of  water,  all  rushing  on  in 
the  same  direction,  each  gave  off  several  rays  of  foam 
exactly  as  bits  of  steel,  when  burned  in  oxygen  gas, 
give  off  rays  of  sparks.  The  snow-white  sheet  seemed 
like  myriads  of  small  comets  rushing  on  in  one  direc- 
tion, each  of  which  left  behind  its  nucleus  rays  of  foam. 
I  never  saw  the  appearance  referred  to  noticed  else- 
where. It  seemed  to  be  the  effect  of  the  mass  of  water 
leaping  at  once  clear  of  the  rock,  and  but  slowly  break- 
ing up  into  spray. 

"  I  have  mentioned  that  we  saw  live  columns  of 
vapor  ascending  from  this  strange  abyss.  They  are  evi- 
dently formed  by  the  compression  suffered  by  the  force 
of  the  water's  own  fall  into  an  unyielding  wedge-shaped 
space.  Of  the  five  columns,  two  on  the  right  and  one 
on  the  left  of  the  island  were  the  largest,  and  tho 
ft  reams  which  formed  them  seemed  each  to  ex- 
ceed in  size  the  falls  of  the  Clyde  at  Stonebyrefi  when 
that  river  is  in  flood.  This  was  the  period  of  low 
water  in  the  Leeambye ;  but,  as  far  as  I  conld  guess, 
mere  was  a  How  of  live  or  six  hundred  yards  of  water, 


DOWN  THE  ZAMBESI.  241 

which,  at  the  edge  of  the  fall,  seemed  at  least  three 
feet  deep. 

"  The  fissure  is  said  by  the  Makololo  to  be  very 
much  deeper  farther  to  the  eastward  ;  there  is  one  part 
at  which  the  walls  are  so  sloping  that  people  accus- 
tomed to  it  can  go  down  by  descending  in  a  sitting 
position.  The  Makololo  on  one  occasion,  pursuing 
some  fugitive  Batoka,  saw  them,  unable  to  stop  the 
impetus  of  their  flight  at  the  edge,  literally  dashed  to 
pieces  at  the  bottom.  They  beheld  the  stream  like  a 
'  white  cord'  at  the  bottom,  and  so  far  down  (probably 
300  feet)  that  they  became  giddy,  and  were  faint  to  go 
away  holding  on  to  the  ground. 

"  Sekeletu  and  his  large  party  having  conveyed  me 
thus  far,  and  furnished  me  with  a  company  of  114  men 
to  carry  the  tusks  to  the  coast,  we  bade  adieu  to  the 
Makololo  on  the  20th  of  November,  and  proceeded 
northward  to  the  Lekone.  The  country  around  is 
very  beautiful,  and  was  once  well  peopled  with  Batoka, 
who  possessed  enormous  herds  of  cattle.  When  Sebit- 
uane  came  in  former  times,  with  his  small  but  warlike 
party  of  Makololo,  to  this  spot,  a  general  rising  took 
place  of  the  Batoka  through  the  whole  country,  in 
order  to  £  eat  him  up ;'  but  his  usual  success  followed 
him,  and,  dispersing  them,  the  Makololo  obtained  so 
many  cattle  that  they  could  not  take  any  note  of  the 
herds  of  sheep  and  goats.  The  tsetse  has  been  brought 
by  buffaloes  into  some  districts  where  formerly  cattle 
abounded.  This  obliged  us  to  travel  the  first  few 
stages  by  night.  We  could  not  well  detect  the  nature 
Df  the  country  in  the  dim  moonlight;  the  path,  how- 
ever, seemed  to  lead  along  the  high  bank  of  what  may 
16 


242  TEA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

have  been  the  ancient  bed  of  the  Zambesi  before  the 
fissure  was  made.  The  Lekone  now  winds  in  it  in  an 
opposite  direction  to  that  in  which  the  ancient  river 
must  have  flowed. 

"  For  a  few  days  we  travelled  over  an  uninhabited, 
gently  undulating,  and  most  beautiful  district,  the  bor- 
der territory  between  those  who  accept  and  those  who 
reject  the  sway  of  the  Makololo.  The  face  of  the  coun- 
try appears  as  if  in  long  waves,  running  north  and 
south.  There  are  no  rivers,  though  water  stands  in 
pools  in  the  hollows.  We  were  now  come  into  the 
country  which  my  people  all  magnify  as  a  perfect  para- 
dise. Sebituane  was  driven  from  it  by  the  Matebele. 
It  suited  him  exactly  for  cattle,  corn,  and  health.  The 
soil  is  dry.  and  often  a  reddish  sand ;  there  are  few 
trees,  but  fine  large  shady  ones  stand  dotted  here  and 
there  over  the  country  where  towns  formerly  stood. 
One  of  the  fig  family  I  measured,  and  found  to  be 
forty  feet  in  circumference ;  the  heart  had  been  burned 
out,  and  some  one  had  made  a  lodging  in  it,  for  we 
saw  the  remains  of  a  bed  and  a  fire.  The  sight  of  the 
open  country,  with  the  increased  altitude  we  were 
attaining,  was  most  refreshing  to  the  spirits.  Large 
game  abound.  We  see  in  the  distance  buffaloes,  elands, 
hartebeest,  gnus,  and  elephants,  all  very  tame,  as  no 
one  disturbs  them.  Lions,  which  always  accompany 
other  large  animals,  roared  about  us,  but,  as  it  was 
moonlight,  there  was  no  danger.  In  the  evening, 
while  standing  on  a  mass  of  granite,  one  began  to  roar 
at  me,  though  it  was  still  light. 

"On  the  3d  of  December  we  crossed  the  rivet 
Mozuma,  or  river  of  Dila,  having  travelled  through  a 


DOWN  THE  ZAMBESI.  243 

beautifully  undulating  pastoral  country.  To  the  south, 
and  a  little  east  of  this,  stands  the  hill  Taba  Cheu,  or 
'  White  Mountains,'  from  a  mass  of  white  rock,  prob- 
ably dolomite,  on  its  top.  But  none  of  the  hills  are  of 
any  great  altitude.  The  Mozuma,  or  river  of  Dila, 
was  the  first  water-course  which  indicated  that  we 
were  now  on  the  slopes  toward  the  eastern  coast.  It 
contained  no  flowing  water,  but  revealed  in  its  banks 
what  gave  me  great  pleasure  at  the  time — pieces  of  lig- 
nite, possibly  indicating  the  existence  of  a  mineral, 
namely,  coal,  the  want  of  which  in  the  central  country 
I  had  always  deplored.  Again  and  again  we  came  to 
the  ruins  of  large  towns,  containing  the  only  hiero- 
glyphics of  this  country,  worn  mill-stones,  with  the 
round  ball  of  quartz  with  which  the  grinding  was 
effected.  Great  numbers  of  these  balls  were  lying 
about,  showing  that  the  depopulation  had  been  the 
result  of  war ;  for,  had  the  people  removed  in  peace, 
they  would  have  taken  the  balls  with  them. 

"  When  we  had  passed  the  outskirting  villages, 
which  alone  consider  themselves  in  a  state  of  war 
with  the  Makololo,  we  found  the  Batoka,  or  Batonga, 
as  they  here  call  themselves,  quite  friendly.  Great 
numbers  of  them  came  from  all  the  surrounding  vil- 
lages with  presents  of  maize  and  masuka,  and  ex- 
pressed great  joy  at  the  first  appearance  of  a  white 
man,  and  harbinger  of  peace.  The  women  clothe 
themselves  better  than  the  Balonda,  but  the  men  go 
in  purls  naturalibtcs.  They  walk  about  without  the 
smallest  sense  of  shame. 

"  The  further  we  advanced,  the  more  we  found  the 
C'-mtry  swarming  with  inhabitants.     Great  numbers 


2 ±4  TKA  VEL S  IN  SOU TH  A FKICA . 

came  to  see  the  white  man,  a  sight  they  had  never  be- 
held before.  They  always  brought  presents  of  maize 
and  masuka.  Their  mode  of  salutation  is  quite  singular. 
They  throw  themselves  on  their  backs  on  the  ground, 
and,  rolling  from  side  to  side,  slap  the  outside  of  their 
thighs  as  expressions  of  thankfulness  and  welcome, 
uttering  the  words  '  Kina  boinba.'  This  method  of 
salutation  was  to  me  very  disagreeable,  and  I  never 
could  get  reconciled  to  it.  I  called  out,  '  Stop,  stop ;  I 
don't  want  that ;'  but  they,  imagining  I  was  dissatis- 
fied, only  tumbled  about  more  furiously,  and  slapped 
their  thighs  with  greater  vigor." 

For  nearly  a  month  the  party  pushed  slowly  on, 
varying  the  monotony  of  the  journey  by  hunting 
elephants,  or  overcoming  difficulties  occasioned  by  the 
greed  or  suspicion  of  the  natives.  In  the  latter  cases, 
one  of  the  Makololo,  Sekwebu  by  name,  was  of  great 
service.  The  party  reached  the  Kafue  on  the  18th  of 
December,  and  finally  the  Zambesi  about  the  close  of 
the  year. 

"  As  we  approached  nearer  the  Zambesi,"  says 
Livingstone,  "the  country  became  covered  with  broad- 
leaved  bushes,  pretty  thickly  planted,  and  we  had 
several  times  to  shout  to  elephants  to  get  out  of  our 
way.  At  an  open  space,  a  herd  of  buffaloes  came 
trotting  ii p  to  look  at  our  oxen,  and  it  was  only  by 
shooting  one  that  I  made  them  retreat.  The  meat 
is  very  much  like  that  of  an  ox,  and  this  one  was  very 
tine.  The  only  danger  wo  actually  encountered  was 
from  a  female  elephant,  with  three  young  ones  of 
different  sizes.  Charging  through  the  centre  of  our 
extended  line,  and  causing  the  men  to  throw    down 


DOWN  THE  ZAMBESI.  245 

their  burdens  in  a  great  hurry,  she  received  a  spear 
for  her  temerity.  I  never  saw  an  elephant  with  more 
than  one  calf  before.  We  knew  that  we  were  near  our 
Zambesi  again,  even  before  the  great  river  burst  upon 
our  sight,  by  the  numbers  of  water-fowl  we  met.  I 
killed  four  geese  with  two  shots,  and,  had  I  followed 
the  wishes  of  my  men,  could  have  secured  a  meal  of 
water- fowl  for  the  whole  party.  I  never  saw  a  river 
with  so  much  animal  life  around  and  in  it,  and,  as  the 
Barotse  say,  'Its  tish  and  fowl  are  always  fat.'  When 
our  eyes  were  gladdened  by  a  view  of  its  goodly  broad 
waters,  we  found  it  very  much  larger  than  it  is  even 
above  the  falls.  One  might  try  to  make  his  voice 
heard  across  it  in  vain.  Its  flow  was  more  rapid  than 
near  Sesheke,  being  often  four  and  a  half  miles  an 
hour." 

During  January  and  February,  1856,  the  party 
moved  slowly  eastward,  encountering  great  difficul- 
ties from  the  hostility  of  the  natives.  More  than  once 
they  were  on  the  point  of  fighting,  and  the  trouble 
was  scarcely  avoided,  before  a  similar  one  would  arise 
at  the  next  settlement.  At  the  confluence  of  the 
Loangwe,  a  large  stream  which  comes  down  from  the 
north,  with  the  Zambesi,  Livingstone  found  some  re- 
mains of  the  old  Portuguese  station  of  Zumbo.  Be- 
low this,  he  was  obliged  to  cross  the  Zambesi,  and 
take  a  direct  route  across  the  rough  and  dangerous 
region  to  the  south  of  the  river,  directly  towards  Tete. 
This  narrative  is  full  of  exciting  details,  which,  how- 
ever, there  is  no  space  to  reproduce  here.  We  must 
pass  on  to  the  close  of  the  eventful  journey,  and  give 
his  account  of  the  approach  to  the  semi-civilization  of 


246  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

a  Portuguese  trading-port,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
continent: 

"  Being  pretty  well  tired  out  in  the  evening  of  the 
2d  of  March,  I  remained  at  about  eight  miles  distance 
from  Tete.  My  men  asked  me  to  go  on ;  I  felt  too 
fatigued  to  proceed,  but  sent  forward  to  the  command- 
ant the  letters  of  recommendation  with  which  I  had 
been  favored  in  Angola  by  the  bishop  and  others,  and 
lay  down  to  rest.  Our  food  having  been  exhausted, 
my  men  had  been  subsisting  for  some  time  on  roots 
and  honey.  About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the 
3d  we  were  aroused  by  two  officers  and  a  company  of 
soldiers,  who  had  been  sent  with  the  materials  for  a 
civilized  breakfast  and  a  '  masheela '  to  bring  me  to 
Tete.  My  companions  thought  that  we  were  captured 
by  the  armed  men,  and  called  me  in  alarm.  When  I 
understood  the  errand  on  which  they  had  come,  and 
had  partaken  of  a  good  breakfast,  though  I  had  just 
before  been  too  tired  to  sleep,  all  my  fatigue  vanished. 
It  was  the  most  refreshing  breakfast  I  ever  partook  of, 
and  I  walked  the  last  eight  miles  without  the  least 
ft  cling  of  weariness,  although  the  path  was  so  rough 
that  one  of  the  officers  remarked  to  me,  'This  is 
enough  to  tear  a  man's  life  out  of  him.'  The  pleasure 
ex,  fenced  in  partaking  of  that  breakfast  was  only 
c)  i  ailed  by  the  enjoyment  of  Mr.  Gabriel's  bed  on  my 
arrival  at  Loanda.  It  was  also  enhanced  by  the  news 
that  Sebastopol  had  fallen  and  the  war  was  finished. 

"  The  village  of  Tete  is  built  on  a  long  slope  down 
to  the  river,  the  fort  being  close  to  the  water.  The 
rock  beneath  is  gray  sand-stone,  and  has  the  appear 
ance  of  being  crushed  away  from  the  river:  the  strata 


DOWN  THE  ZAMBESI.  247 

have  tlms  a  crumpled  form.  The  hollow  between  each 
crease  is  a  street,  the  houses  being  built  upon  the  pro- 
jecting fold.  The  rocks  at  the  top  of  the  slope  ara 
much  higher  than  the  fort,  and  of  course  completely 
command  it.  There  is  then  a  large  valley,  and  beyond 
that  anoblong  hill  called  Karueira.  The  whole  of  the 
adjacent  country  is  rocky  and  broken,  but  every  avail 
able  spot  is  under  cultivation.  The  stone  houses  in 
Tete  are  cemented  with  mud  instead  of  lime,  and 
thatched  with  reeds  and  grass.  The  rains,  having 
washed  out  the  mud  between  the  stones,  give  all  the 
houses  a  rough,  untidy  appearance.  No  lime  was 
known  to  be  found  nearer  than  Mozambique;  some 
used  in  making  seats  in  the  verandas  had  actually  been 
brought  all  that  distance. 

"  There  are  about  twelve  hundred  huts  in  all,  which 
with  European  households  would  give  a  population  of 
about  four  thousand  five  hundred  souls.  Only  a  small 
proportion  of  these,  however,  live  on  the  spot ;  the 
majority  are  engaged  in  agricultural  operations  in  the 
adjacent  country.  Generally  there  are  not  more  than 
two  thousand  people  resident,  for,  compared  with  what 
it  was,  Tete  is  now  a  ruin.  The  number  of  Portuguese 
is  very  small ;  if  we  exclude  the  military,  it  is  under 
twenty. 

"  As  it  was  necessary  to  leave  most  of  my  men  at 
this  place,  Major  Sicard  gave,  them  a  portion  of  land  on 
which  to  cultivate  their  own  food,  generously  supply- 
jig  them  with  corn  in  the  meantime.  He  also  said 
that  my  young  men  might  go  and  hunt  elephants  in 
company  with  his  servants,  and  purchase  goods  with 
both    the  ivory  and   dried  meat,  in  order   that  they 


24 8  TRA  l 'EL S  JJV  SOUTH  A FRICA. 

might  have  something  to  take  with  them  on  their 
return  to  Sekeletu.  The  men  were  delighted  with  his 
liberality,  and  soon  sixty  or  seventy  of  them  set  off  to 
engage  in  this  enterprise.  There  was  no  calico  to  be 
had  at  this  time  in  Tete,  but  the  commandant  hand- 
somely furnished  my  men  with  clothing.  I  was  in  a 
state  of  want  myself,  and,  though  I  pressed  him  to  take 
payment  in  ivory  for  both  myself  and  men,  he  refused 
all  recompense.  I  shall  ever  remember  his  kindness 
with  deep  gratitude." 

After  a  good  rest  at  Tete,  Livingstone,  heartily  as- 
sisted by  the  Portuguese  authorities,  commenced  his 
voyage  down  the  Zambesi.  He  had  now  reached  terri- 
tory which  was  known,  and  the  interest  of  his  narra- 
tive ceases.  The  toils  and  privations  of  the  journey 
were  also  over :  he  floated  comfortably  on  through  the 
fever-haunted  lowlands  of  Eastern  Africa,  and  on  the 
20th  of  May  reached  the  village  of  Kilimane.  "  It 
wanted,"  he  says,  "  only  a  few  days  of  being  four  years 
since  I  started  from  Capetown.  Here  I  was  received 
into  the  house  of  Colonel  Galdino  Jose  Nunes,  one  of 
the  best  men  in  the  country.  I  had  been  three  years 
without  hearing  from  my  family  ;  letters  having  fre- 
quently been  sent,  but  somehow  or  other,  with  but  a 
single  exception,  they  never  reached  me.  I  received, 
however,  a  letter  from  Admiral  Trotter,  conveying  in- 
formation of  their  welfare,  and  some  newspapers,  which 
were  a  treat  indeed.  Her  Majesty's  brig  the  '  Frolic ? 
had  called  to  inquire  for  me  in  the  November  previ* 
ous,  and  Captain  Nolluth,  of  that  ship,  had  most  con- 
siderately left  a  case  of  wine;  and  his  surgeon,  \h\ 
James  Walsh,  divining  what  I  s  ould  need  most,  left 


DOWN  THE  ZAMBESi.  iJ4<J 

an  ounce  of  quinine.  These  gifts  made  my  heart  over- 
flow. I  had  not  tasted  any  Jiquor  whatever  during 
the  time  I  had  heen  in  Africa ;  but  when  reduced  in 
Angola  to  extreme  weakness,  I  found  much  benefit 
from  a  little  wine,  and  took  from  Loanda  one  bottle  of 
brandy  in  my  medicine  chest,  intending  to  use  it  if  it 
were  again  required ;  but  the  boy  who  carried  it 
whirled  the  box  upside  down,  and  smashed  the  bottle, 
bo  I  cannot  give  my  testimony  either  in  favor  of  or 
against  the  brandy. 

"  Eight  of  my  men  begged  to  be  allowed  to  come  as 
far  as  Kilimane,  and,  thinking  that  they  would  there 
see  the  ocean,  I  consented  to  their  coming,  though  the 
food  was  so  scarce  in  consequence  of  a  dearth  that  they 
were  compelled  to  suffer  some  hunger.  They  would 
fain  have  come  farther ;  for  when  Sekeletu  parted  with 
them,  his  orders  were  that  none  of  them  should  turn 
until  they  had  reached  Ma  Robert  and  brought  her 
back  with  them.  On  my  explaining  the  difficulty  oi 
crossing  the  sea,  he  said,  'Wherever  you  lead,  they 
must  follow.'  As  I  did  not  know  well  how  I  should 
get  home  myself,  I  advised  them  to  go  back  to  Tete, 
where  food  was  abundant,  and  there  await  my  /eturn. 
I  bought  a  quantity  of  calico  and  brass  wire  with  ten 
of  the  smaller  tusks  which  we  had  in  our  charge,  and 
sent  the  former  back  as  clothing  to  those  who  remained 
at  Tete.  As  there  were  still  twenty  tusks  left,  I  depos 
ited  them  with  Colonel  Kunes,  that,  in  the  event  of 
anything  happening  to  prevent  my  return,  the  im- 
pression might  not  be  produced  in  the  country  that  I 
nad  made  away  with  Sekeletu's  ivory.  I  instructed 
Colonel  Kunes,  in  case  of  my  death,  to  sell  the  tusks 


250  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

and  deliver  the  proceeds  to  my  men  ;  but  I  intended, 
if  my  life  should  be  prolonged,  to  purchase  the  goods 
ordered  by  Sekeletu  in  England  with  my  own.  money, 
and  pay  myself  on  my  return  out  of  the  price  of  the 
ivory.  This  I  explained  to  the  men  fully,  and  they, 
understanding  the  matter,  replied,  '  Nay,  father,  you 
will  not  die ;  you  will  return  to  take  us  back  to  Seke1 
etu.'  They  promised  to  wait  till  I  came  back,  and,  m 
my  part,  I  assured  them  that  nothing  but  death  would 
prevent  my  return. 

"  After  waiting  about  six  weeks  at  this  unhealthy 
spot,  in  which,  however,  by  the  kind  attentions  of 
Colonel  Nunes  and  his  nephew,  I  partially  recovered 
from  my  tertian,  H.  M.  brig  '  Frolic '  arrived  off  Kili- 
mane.  As  the  village  is  twelve  miles  from  the  bar,  and 
the  weather  was  rough,  she  was  at  anchor  ten  days 
before  we  knew  of  her  presence  about  seven  miles  from 
the  entrance  to  the  port.  She  brought  abundant  sup- 
plies for  all  my  need,  and  £150  to  pay  my  passage 
home,  from  my  kind  friend  Mr.  Thompson,  the  Socie- 
ty's agent  at  the  Cape.  The  admiral  at  the  Cape 
kindly  sent  an  offer  of  a  passage  to  the  Mauritius, 
which  I  thankfully  accepted.  Sekwebu  and  one  at- 
tendant alone  remained  with  me  now.  He  was  very 
intelligent,  and  had  been  of  the  greatest  service  to  me  » 
indeed,  but  for  his  good  sense,  tact,  and  command  of 
the  language  of  the  tribes  through  which  we  passed,  I 
believe  we  should  scarcely  have  succeeded  in  reaching 
the  coast.  I  naturally  felt  grateful  to  him  ;  ami  as  his 
chief  wished  all  my  companions  to  go  to  England  with 
me,  ami  would  probably  be  disappointed  if  none  went, 
I  thought  it  would  be  beneficial  for  him  to  see  the 


HOMEWARD  BOUND.  251 

effects  of  civilization,  and  report  them  to  his  country- 
men ;  I  wished  also  to  make  some  return  for  his  very 
important  services.  Others  had  petitioned  to  come, 
but  I  explained  the  danger  of  a  change  of  climate  and 
food,  and  with  difficulty  restrained  them.  The  only 
one  who  now  remained  begged  so  hard  to  come  on 
board  ship  that  I  greatly  regretted  that  the  expense 
prevented  my  acceding  to  his  wish  to  visit  England. 
I  said  to  him  '  You  will  die  if  you  go  to  such  a  cold 
country  as  mine.'  '  That  is  nothing,'  he  reiterated  ; 
'  let  me  die  at  your  feet.' 

"We  left  Kilimane  on  the  12th  of  July,  and 
reached  the  Mauritius  on  the  12th  of  August,  1856. 
Sekwebu  was  picking  up  English,  and  becoming  a 
favorite  with  both  men  and  officers.  He  seemed  a 
little  bewildered,  everything  on  board  a  man-of-war 
being  so  new  and  strange;  but  he  remarked  to  me 
several  times,  *  Your  countrymen  are  very  agreeable,' 
and,  'What  a  strange  country  this  is — all  water  to- 
gether ! '  He  also  said  that  he  now  understood  why  I 
used  the  sextant.  When  we  reached  the  Mauritius  a 
steamer  came  out  to  tow  us  into  the  harbor.  The 
constant  strain  on  his  untutored  mind  seemed  now  to 
reach  a  climax,  for  during  the  night  he  became  insane. 
I  thought  at  first  that  he  was  intoxicated.  He  had 
descended  into  a  boat,  and,  when  I  attempted  to  go 
down  and  bring  him  into  the  ship,  he  ran  to  the  stem 
and  said,  'No  !  no  !  it  is  enough  that  I  die  alone.  You 
mast  not  perish ;  if  you  come,  I  shall  throw  myself 
into  the  water.'  Perceiving  that  his  mind  was  affec- 
ted, I  said,  '  Now,  Sekwebu,  we  are  going  to  Ma 
Robert.'     This  struck  a  chord  in  his  bosom,  and  he 


252  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

6aid,  *  Oh,  yes  ;  where  is  she,  and  where  is  Eobert  ? ■ 
and  he  seemed  to  recover.  The  officers  proposed  to 
secure  him  by  putting  him  in  irons;  but,  being  a 
gentleman  in  his  own  country,  I  objected,  knowing 
that  the  insane  often  retain  an  impression  of  ill-treat- 
ment, and  I  could  not  bear  to  have  it  said  in  Seke- 
letu's  country  that  I  had  chained  one  of  his  principal 
men  as  they  had  seen  slaves  treated.  I  tried  to  get 
him  on  shore  by  day,  but  he  refused.  In  the  evening 
a  fresh  accession  of  insanity  occurred ;  he  tried  to 
spear  one  of  the  crew,  then  leaped  overboard,  and, 
though  he  could  swim  well,  pulled  himself  down  hand 
under  hand  by  the  chain  cable.  We  never  found  the 
body  of  poor  Sekwebu. 

"  At  the  Mauritius  I  was  most  hospitably  received 
by  Major- General  C.  M.  Hay,  and  he  generously  con- 
strained me  to  remain  with  him  till,  by  the  influence 
of  the  good  climate  and  quiet  English  comfort,  I  got 
rid  of  an  enlarged  spleen  from  African  fever.  In 
November  I  came  up  the  Eed  Sea ;  escaped  the  dan- 
ger of  shipwreck  through  the  admirable  management 
of  Captain  Powell,  of  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental 
Steam  Company's  ship  '  Candia,'  and  on  the  12th  of 
December  was  once  more  in  dear  old  England." 


CHAPTER   XIV. 
Magyar's  journey   to  biiie. 

a^HE  Hungarian  traveller,  Ladislaus  Magyar,  has 
-  succeeded  in  nearly  supplying  our  knowledge 
of  the  district  lying  between  the  route  of  Livingstone 
from  the  upper  valley  of  the  Zambesi  to  the  western 
coast,  and  the  most  northern  points  reached  by  Ander- 
son and  Green. 

Magyar,  as  his  name  indicates,  was  a  Hungarian, 
a  native  of  Theresiopol.  He  entered  the  Austrian 
navy  in  1840,  and,  after  various  voyages,  left  the  ser- 
vice in  South  America,  and  was  employed  by  the 
Argentine  Republic.  The  fleet  of  the  latter  power 
having  been  destroyed  by  that  of  Uruguay,  he  went 
to  Brazil  for  a  time,  and  afterwards  engaged  in  the 
African  trade,  which  he  followed  for  two  or  three 
years.  Partly  from  a  passion  for  exploration,  and 
partly  from  a  desire  to  recover  his  health,  which  had 
been  shattered  by  the  deadly  coast  fever,  he  finally 
went  to  Benguela,  the  most  southern  Portuguese  port, 
in  order  to  settle  himself  in  the  healthier  inland 
regions. 

The  trading-town  of  Benguela,  which  contains  a 
population  of  about  3,000,  has  a  climate  which  seems 
to  be  fatal  to  the  white  race.  "A  man  of  twenty-five," 
says  Magyar,  "  when  he  has  finally  become  acclimated, 
after  a  residence  of  two  years,  and  usually  after  much 


254  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

Buffering,  looks  like  a  man  of  thirty-five.  If  he  re- 
mains eight  or  nine  years  longer,  he  has  the  appear- 
ance of  one  aged  in  mind  and  body,  with  white  hair, 
sunken  face,  and  toothless  mouth.  In  from  ten  to 
twelve  years  the  European  race  disappears." 

The  inland  region  is  inhabited  by  a  number  of 
negro  tribes,  who  live  in  a  state  of  continual  war,  yet, 
from  their  language  and  habits,  appear  to  be  of  the 
same  blood.  They  are  called,  collectively,  the  Kim- 
bund*.  The  country  is  threaded  by  the  affluents  of 
the  Coanza  River,  which  rises  in  Lat.  13°  and  flows 
northward  over  a  table-land,  6,000  feet  above  the  sea, 
to  about  Lat.  9°,  where  it  turns  westward,  and  emp- 
ties into  the  sea  not  far  from  St.  Paul  de  Loanda. 
The  land  rises,  from  the  coast,  in  successive  terraces, 
each  of  which  has  its  distinct  climate  and  productions. 

The  coast  region  is  sandy,  arid,  and  intensely  hot. 
The  tribe  nearest  to  "Renguela,  called  the  Mundombe, 
is  a  strong  and  rather  handsome  race,  but  repulsive  in 
its  habits.  Instead  of  bathing,  they  rub  their  bodies, 
every  third  day,  with  fat  or  butter,  and  soak  their 
single  cotton  garments  in  the  same,  so  that  they  stick 
to  their  bodies.  They  live  in  huts  but  two  or  three 
feet  high,  built  of  sticks  and  mud,  and  always  filled 
with  smoke  from  the  fires  which  they  keep  up,  even  in 
Bummer.  They  have  herds  of  cattle,  and  also  cultivate 
maize,  beans,  and  manioc. 

Magyar  remained  but  a  short  time  in  Benguela,  in 
order  to  complete  his  arrangement  for  the  journey  to 
the  native  kingdom  of  Bihe,  which  comprises  the  ele- 
vated table-land  of  the  interior.  The  caravans  arc  in- 
frequent but  large,  on  account  of  greater  security.     The 


MAGYAR'S  JOURNEY  TO  BIHE.  255 

native  or  half-caste  traders  usually  announce  their  in- 
tention beforehand,  and  the  men  who  desire  to  join 
them  as  porters  or  assistants  seek  them  of  their  own 
accord  and  offer  their  services.  If  the  traders  asked 
them  to  come,  they  would  make  themselves  responsi- 
ble for  any  loss  or  injury  which  the  latter  might  suffer. 
Men  of  other  tribes  go  to  their  prophet,  taking  a  goat 
as  an  offering,  and  ask  his  advice  concerning  the  result 
of  the  journey.  The  prophet  anoints  parts  of  their 
bodies  with  the  blood  of  the  animal,  and  then  sends 
them  to  the  chief,  who  makes  the  sign  of  the  tribes  on 
.their  foreheads,  with  white  paint.  This  is  an  African 
passport,  which  is  always  respected,  and,  singularly 
enough,  is  never  counterfeited. 

Goods  of  all  kinds  are  slung  to  poles,  which  are  car- 
ried on  the  shoulders  of  the  porters:  travellers  are 
obliged  to  lie  in  a  hammock  which  is  also  suspended 
from  a  long  pole,  carried  by  two  men,  who  are  relieved 
by  others  from  time  to  time.  But  the  progress  of  the 
caravan,  especially  in  marshes,  forests,  or  the  passes  of 
the  mountains,  is  exceedingly  slow  and  toilsome,  and 
the  traveller  is  compelled  to  walk  where  the  road  is 
worst. 

The  leader  of  the  caravan  from  Bihe  was  very 
ready  to  accept  Magyar's  application  to  join  him,  since 
the  presence  of  a  European  is  considered  an  additional 
protection.  The  traveller  also  obtained  a  hissongo,  or 
body-guard, — a  man  whose  office  was  to  attend  him, 
watch  over  his  property,  and  defend  him  in  case  of  dan- 
ger. An  interpreter,  three  slaves  for  personal  service, 
and  six  hammock-bearers  were  also  necessary.  Provi- 
ded with  these,  and  with  the  proper  goods   for   trad© 


256  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

with  the  natives,  Magyar  left  Benguela  on  the  15th 
of  January,  1849 — the  middle  of  summer,  and  made 
his  way  across  the  burning  lowlands  towards  the  first 
range  of  mountains. 

In  this  region  there  was  no  sign  of  vegetable  life 
except  some  leafless  thorn-bushes  and  tufts  of  dried 
grass.  The  vertical  sun  shone  so  powerfully  upon  tho 
heads  of  the  travellers  that  even  the  natives  com 
plained  of  the  heat,  and  made  use  of  the  tails  of  quag- 
gas  as  a  sort  of  fan.  As  the  elevation  above  the  sea 
increased,  trees  began  to  appear,  and  the  banks  of  the 
Katumbele  River,  beyond  the  first  range  of  hills,  were 
covered  with  a  dense  tropical  vegetation.  This  stream 
was  crossed  by  means  of  bamboo  rafts,  and  the  caravan 
was  so  large  that  many  hours  were  required  to  trans- 
port all  the  men  and  goods  to  the  other  shore. 

A  short  distance  beyond,  they  reached  the  first 
range  of  mountains — a  wild  chaos  of  black,  volcanic 
peaks,  where  only  thorns  and  aloes  grew.  The  path 
mounted  or  fell  along  the  brink  of  precipitous  abysses, 
and  the  loose  stones  and  pebbles  frequently  slid  and 
gave  way  under  the  feet  of  the  natives,  who  wrere 
obliged  to  march  in  single  file,  so  that  an  accident  to 
one  delayed  all  the  others  in  the  rear.  The  bleached 
bones  of  men,  at  the  bottoms  of  the  chasms,  were  a 
ghastly  evidence  of  the  dangers  of  the  road.  From 
time  to  time,  among  the  higher  cliffs,  they  saw  the 
forms  of  the  wild,  predatory  tribes  of  the  hills,  ap- 
parently mustering  their  strength,  and  deliberating 
whether  an  attack  might  be  ventured.  In  spite  of 
the  great  fatigue  of  the  journey,  Magyar  was  so  im- 
pressed with  the  grand  character  of  the  scenery,  and 


MA  G  YAR  'S  JO URNE  Y  TO  BIHE.  257 

so  refreshed  by  the  purer  atmosphere  of  the  mountains, 
that  he  immediately  began  to  receive  his  health  and 
strength. 

He  describes  two  cataracts  in  the  higher  regions, 
one  of  which,  called  Kahi,  is  of  an  unusual  character. 
The  river  slides  down  a  rock,  having  a  declivity  of 
eighty  degrees,  for  a  distance  of  150  feet,  is  then 
dashed  into  foam  upon  a  transverse  ledge,  and  falls 
150  feet  further  into  a  black  chasm,  with  a  noise 
which  may  be  heard  for  several  miles.  He  also  speaks 
of  an  active  volcano,  further  to  the  northward.  It  is 
an  isolated  cone,  rising  high  above  the  other  moun- 
tains, and  discharging  low  jets  of  steam  and  flame  at 
regular  intervals.  The  natives  consider  that  tho 
crater  is  the  residence  of  the  spirits  of  their  dead,  and 
never  dare  to  approach  the  mountain. 

The  way  led  partly  through  wild  passes,  with 
running  streams  and  luxuriant  vegetation  in  their  beds, 
partly  over  barren,  stony  hills,  or  across  high  table- 
lands, covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  grass. 

In  proportion  as  they  advanced  eastward,  the  tropi- 
cal rains  increased.  Every  afternoon  the  clouds  gath- 
ered in  dense  masses,  lightning  and  terrific  thunder 
swept  around  the  peaks,  and  rain,  mixed  with  hail, 
poured  in  torrents.  The  mornings  were  cool  and  de- 
lightful, and  the  natives  shivered  in  the  showers  shaken 
upon  them  by  the  wet  foliage,  until  the  sun  was  high 
enough  to  dry  and  warm  them.  On  entering  the 
Kissangi  land,  which  is  fertile  and  inhabited,  the  cara- 
van constructed  a  rude  fortified  camp  every  evening, 
and  temporary  huts  were  erected  as  a  shelter  from  the 
rains.  The  inhabitants,  who  build  their  villages  on 
17 


258  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRIC, 

heights  which  are  almost  inaccessib1  are  inveterate 
robbers. 

Magyar  was  requested  by  the  natives  to  assume 
command,  of  the  caravan,  as  they  believed  it  would 
thus  become  more  formidable.  This  imposed  upon 
him  the  duty  of  looking  after  the  goods,  appointing  the 
guards,  and  directing  the  daily  marches ;  on  the  other 
hand,  it  gave  him  opportunities  of  learning  the  true 
method  of  dealing  with  the  tribes  of  the  interior.  His 
first  encounters  with  the  chiefs  of  the  villages  were 
settled  by  some  trifling  presents;  but,  when  the  de- 
mands became  more  exorbitant,  he  was  obliged  to  call 
the  former  leader  of  the  caravan  to  his  aid.  It  was 
necessary  to  put  on  a  bold  front,  and  more  than  once 
the  members  of  the  company  armed  themselves  and 
prepared  to  resist  an  attack,  which  was  probably  pre- 
vented by  their  prompt  show  of  courage. 

The  leader  of  a  band  of  the  Bailunda  tribe,  from 
whom  hostilities  were  expected,  contented  himself  with 
a  moderate  present  of  brandy,  powder  and  flints,  with 
the  condition  that  the  white  man  should  bring  him  the 
articles  in  person.  He  sent  two  women  as  hostages, 
and  Magyar,  although  not  fully  trusting  the  leader's 
word,  felt  bound  to  comply.  He  found  the  camp  di- 
vided into  four  regular  quarters,  with  the  commander's 
tent  in  the  centre,  designated  by  a  red  flag.  The  latter 
was  the  son-in-law  of  the  king,  and  was  a  tall,  strong, 
and  lather  handsome  man.  lie  was  surrounded  witii 
his  guards,  interpreters,  and  servants.  He  first  ad- 
dressed his  troops,  the  musicians  accompanying  lug 
words  with  the  sound  of  their  instruments.  Then, 
turning   to   the    traveller,  he   clapped   his  hands,  and 


MAGYAR'S  JOURNEY  TO  BIHE.  259 

thrice  gave  the  salutation,  "  Peace  be  with  you ! "  He 
confessed  that  his  officers  had  proposed  to  him  to  at- 
tack the  caravan,  but  he  had  forbidden  it,  on  account 
of  his  friendship  for  the  white  man. 

While  the  troops  were  drinking  the  beer  which 
they  brew  from  maize,  and  beginning  their  savage 
dances,  Magyar  slipped  away  and  returned  to  the  cara- 
van. His  men  feared  that  the  Bailundas  would  under- 
take an  attack  on  their  own  account,  in  spite  of  the  pro- 
tection which  their  chief  had  promised  ;  and,  as  these 
people  usually  attempt  such  undertakings  in  the  early 
morning,  the  caravan  was  set  in  motion  after  night, 
march ei  unperceived  past  the  Bailunda  camp,  and  by 
morning  was  at  a  safe  distance. 

The  next  adventure  was  one  of  a  more  agreeable 
nature.  In  the  neighborhood  of  a  place  called  Kan- 
dala,  two  negro-girls,  clad  in  a  semi-European  fashion, 
came  to  Magyar's  tent,  addressed  him  in  Portuguese, 
and  offered  him  a  present  of  figs,  pine-apples,  and 
bananas.  They  brought  him  a  greeting  from  Donna 
Isabel,  their  mistress,  who  lived  near  at  hand,  and  who 
requested  permission  to  visit  him.  Her  presence  was 
soon  announced  by  the  chanting  of  the  hammock- 
bearers.  She  was  a  lady  of  about  twenty-two,  with 
negro  features,  but  a  bright  mulatto  complexion.  She 
was  born  in  Benguela,  but  had  lived  in  Brazil,  and, 
after  returning  to  Africa,  had  married  a  native  trader 
and  settled  in  the  interior.  Now,  as  his  widow,  she 
carried  on  his  business  profitably,  while  a  number  of 
slaves  cultivated  his  fields.  When  Magyar  returned 
his  visit,  she  entertained  him  with  a  meal  in  the  Euro- 
pean style.  Seven  years  afterwards,  he  relates,  her 
friendship  was  the  means  of  saving  his  life. 


260  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

Beyond  the  Kissangi  land  lies  the  splendid  tropical 
valley  of  the  Kubale  River,  tilled  with  mountain 
Bt reams  and  cataracts,  and  rejoicing  in  a  most  luxuri- 
ant vegetation.  Then  followed  a  broad  and  lofty 
table-land,  stretching  eastward  to  the  base  of  another 
and  higher  range  of  mountains,  called  the  Lingi-Liugi. 
Herds  of  buffaloes,  zebras,  and  antelopes  pastured  on 
the  rich  grasses  of  the  plain,  and  the  natives  immedi- 
ately organized  a  hunting-party.  The  sight  of  the 
buffaloes,  however,  so  alarmed  Magyar  that  he  climbed 
to  the  top  of  a  huge  ant-hill,  and  his  nervous  excite- 
ment was  so  great  when  the  first  beast  stormed  past, 
that  he  was  unable  to  pull  the  trigger.  He  threw 
away  the  flint,  and  pretended  to  have  lost  it,  lest  the 
natives  should  detect  his  lack  of  the  coolness  necessary 
to  a  hunter.  The  former  succeeded  in  killing  seven 
of  the  animals,  which  gave  them  all  a  banquet  of  the 
tough  flesh. 

After  encountering  a  terrific  storm  at  the  base  of 
the  Lingi-Lingi  Mountains,  they  commenced  the  as- 
cent. The  path  led  for  a  time  through  huge  forests, 
matted  together  with  vines  and  parasitic  plants,  then 
slowly  emerged  upon  open  slopes,  and  wound  in  zig- 
zags around  the  peaks,  frequently  along  the  verge  of 
immense  chasms.  Magyar  describes  the  scenery  as 
imposing  in  its  grandeur  and  the  variety  of  its  forms. 
The  mountain  peaks  exhibited  the  most  singular  and 
grotesque  forms.  Some  were  clothed  with  pines; 
others  were  pinnacles  of  naked  rock;  and  between 
them  all  the  noise  of  cataracts  resounded  from  the 
deeps.  At  the  summit,  about  5,000  feet  above  the 
Bea,   commenced   another   table-land,   from   the   lofty 


MAGYAR'S  JO  URNE  Y  TO  BIHE.  261 

level  of  which  the  mountain-ranges  far  to  the  east  and 
west  were  visible,  like  lines  of  cloud. 

The  former  of  these  ranges,  called  the  Djamba, 
was  the  remaining  barrier  to  be  passed  before  reach- 
ing the  country  of  Bihe.  Between  it  and  the  Lingi- 
Lingi  range  lies  the  land  of  Hambo,  not  of  great  ex- 
tent, but  widely  known  for  the  warlike  and  plunder- 
ing habits  of  its  people.  The  march  of  the  caravan 
across  this  region  was  fortunately  not  interrupted  by 
any  attack,  but  it  was  rendered  slow  and  difficult  by 
the  rains,  which  had  soaked  the  soil  and  swollen  all 
the  streams.  At  last  they  reached  the  wooded  base- 
hills,  above  which  tower  the  bald  granite  summits  of 
the  Djamba  range.  In  spite  of  the  difficulties  of  the 
ascent,  the  natives  all  shouted  and  sang  at  the  pros- 
pect of  so  soon  reaching  their  homes.  Thunders 
from  the  peaks  answered  their  songs,  and  in  spite  of 
their  exertions,  they  were  drenched  by  a  furious 
rain  long  before  reaching  the  summit.  Magyar  caught 
a  fever  from  the  exposure,  but  the  caravan  rested  on 
the  following  day,  and  he  was  able  to  cure  himself  by 
a  simple  sudorific  process. 

The  Djamba  negroes,  who  inhabit  the  upper  pai  t 
of  the  mountains,  and  form  an  independent  little  re- 
public of  their  own,  came  to  visit  the  camp.  They 
were  a  strong  and  finely-formed  race,  but  rather  im- 
pudent in  their  ways.  One  of  them  related  to  Magyar 
that  he  had  formerly  been  the  slave  of  a  white  man 
who  lived  in  the  mountains.  This  appeared  to  have 
been  a  Portuguese  named  Cota,  an  exile  from  Brazil, 
who,  sixteen  years  before,  had  led  an  adventurous  life 
in  the  interior.     The  Djamba  stated  that  he  had  dis- 


262  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

covered  gold  in  the  mountains,  and  employed  the  na- 
tives to  wash  it  out  from  the  sands.  On  account  of 
his  cruelty  and  violence  he  had  provoked  their  hos- 
tility, but  succeeded  in  escaping  to  Benguela,  whence 
ho  returned  to  Brazil. 

The  caravan  now  continued  its  journey  across  the 
highest  table-land  of  Sambos,  which  is  probably  6,000 
feet  above  the  sea.  Here  the  dark,  rich  soil  is  of  a 
Bandy  character,  and  the  numerous  streams  form  ex- 
tensive swamps  and  pools.  The  plain  is  dotted  with 
little  hills,  upon  which  the  natives  build  their  villages, 
which  are  shaded  with  groups  of  trees  resembling  the 
sycamore.  Towards  the  close  of  the  journey,  they 
were  visited  by  a  hail-storm  so  severe  that  the  ground 
was  covered  as  with  a  crust  of  ice.  But  this  was  the 
last  of  their  hardships :  they  had  reached  the  frontiers 
of  Bihe,  and  the  company  of  nearly  2,000  persons  be- 
gan to  divide  into  little  squads  and  scatter  towards 
their  different  homes.  Messengers  had  been  sent  in 
advance,  to  announce  their  coming,  so  that  the  women 
could  brew  maize-beer,  and  even  carry  it  to  meet 
them  on  the  last  stage  of  the  march. 

Nearly  all  Magyar's  servants  and  porters  here  left 
him,  refusing  to  appear  before  their  families  in  that 
character:  only  the  kissongo  and  his  relatives  re- 
mained faithful,  for  they  considered  the  white  man  as 
their  guest,  and  their  families  had  been  instructed  to 
prepare  for  his  reception.  They  now  pushed  forward 
with  great  impatience,  delayed  only  by  too  copious  in- 
dulgence in  beer,  and  in  two  or  three  days  more  arrived 
at  their  home.  There  Magyar  was  received  with  great 
kindness.     After  the  first  salutations  were  over,  one  of 


MA G YA R 'S  JO URNE Y  TO  £*rr?.  263 

the  porters  commenced  a  recital  of  everytl  Mg  that  had 
occurred  during  his  absence  of  116  days,  omitting  not 
the  smallest  incident. 

Magyar's  chief  object  being  to  establish  his  resi- 
dence in  Bihe  as  a  base  for  further  explorations,  his  first 
care  was  to  send  a  messenger  with  presents  to  the  king, 
asking  his  permission  to  build  a  house.  The  answei 
came  in  five  days ;  the  king  sent  a  friendly  greeting, 
and  gave  his  permission,  but  added  the  request  that  the 
stranger  could  pay  him  a  formal  visit  as  soon  as  he  had 
completed  his  dwelling. 

Magyar  was  at  liberty  to  take  any  piece  of  land 
which  had  not  been  already  claimed  and  occupied  by 
some  one  else.  The  country  around  the  home  of  his 
kissongo  was  so  attractive  that  his  only  difficulty  was 
what  point  to  select.  He  finally  made  choice  of  a  beau- 
tiful little  valley,  with  a  clear  swift  rivulet  in  its  bed. 
Forests  and  meadows  alternated  in  the  landscape,  and 
every  hill  in  the  distance  was  crowned  with  a  native  vil- 
lage. The  character  of  the  scenery  was  so  charming 
that  he  declared  to  his  attendants  that  he  would  fix  his 
residence  there.  To  his  great  annoyance,  the  latter 
informed  him  that  a  notorious  wizard  had  been  execu- 
ted on  the  spot,  a  year  before,  and  since  then  the  evil 
spirits  had  taken  possession  of  the  whole  neighborhood. 
Foreseeing  that  the  natives  would  resist  his  attempts 
to  settle  there,  Magyar  had  recourse  to  one  of  their  ex- 
orcising priests,  to  whom  he  presented  a  fat  hog  and 
several  yards  of  cotton  cloth,  begging  him  tu  drive  away 
the  hateful  spirits.  The  priest  slaughtered  a  goat, 
marked  several  hieroglyphics  with  its  blood  on  Mag 
yar's  arm  and  breast,  blew  three  blasts  through  the  horn 


264  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA, 

of  a  gazelle,  and  the  evil  spirits  immediately  fled  from 
the  beautiful  valley,  leaving  it  free  to  human  habitation. 

As  soon  as  the  news  became  known,  people  came 
from  all  the  neighboring  villages,  to  be  employed  in 
the  building  of  the  house.  The  men  felled  trees  in 
the  forests,  while  the  women  and  children  cut  the  long 
grass  of  the  meadows  to  thatch  the  roofs.  In  order  to 
assure  himself  of  the  proper  respect  and  consideration, 
it  was  necessary  for  the  stranger  to  build  a  large  dwel- 
ling, and  employ  at  least  fifty  slaves  or  servants.  In 
the  material  and  character  of  the  structure,  he  imitated 
the  houses  of  the  people,  except  that  his  was  square, 
instead  of  being  circular  in  form.  First  a  large  stock- 
ade was  made  of  posts  of  iron-wood,  with  loop-holes 
for  musketry.  Inside  of  this  were  the  slave-quarters 
and  store-houses ;  then  a  second  palisaded  inclosure, 
with  the  house  of  the  future  lord  and  his  family.  The 
walls  were  of  strong  palisades,  plastered  with  clay,  and 
whitewashed,  so  that  the  residence  had  a  semi-civilized 
appearance. 

The  people  worked  lustily  to  secure  the  white 
man  a  home  before  he  could  have  time  to  change  his 
mind.  The  women,  especially,  desired  him  to  remain 
among  them,  not  on  account  of  his  complexion  and  fea- 
tures, which  were  very  disagreeable  to  them,  but 
because  he  possessed  such  a  store  of  trinkets,  many  of 
which  they  hoped  to  secure  in  the  course  of  time. 
There  was  no  trouble  in  procuring  all  the  labor  re- 
quired. It  is  not  advantageous,  however,  to  employ 
those  who  are  free,  since  they  are  only  willing  to  ren- 
der special  services :  the  greater  part  of  the  labor  falls 
upon  slaves,  or  a  class  of  retainers,  whose  work  is  pur 


MA  J  YAR  '  5  JO  URNE  Y  TO  BIHR.  265 

chased  in  advance,  and  who  are  bound  to  do  whatever 
is  required  of  them.  For  twenty  yards  of  cotton 
cloth,  apiece,  Magyar  purchased  as  many  of  the  latter 
class  as  he  needed,  and  the  additional  applications 
were  so  numerous  that  he  was  finally  obliged  to  keep 
them  forcibly  at  a  distance.  It  is  not  more  difficult  to 
support  such  a  retinue  of  followers,  than  to  obtain 
them.  The  cultivation  of  the  soil  is  carried  on  exclu- 
sively by  the  women,  while  the  men  build,  hunt,  and 
fish.  As  soon  as  a  young  man  has  earned  the  price  of 
a  wife  he  marries,  in  order  to  have  his  fields  cultivated. 
The  married  slaves  are  obliged  to  help  support  the 
unmarried,  as  well  as  to  furnish  food  for  the  master. 
The  latter  is  only  expected  to  clothe  his  slaves  with  a 
single  narrow  garment,  and  give  them  a  few  yards  of 
cloth  twice  a  year. 

As  soon  as  the  residence  was  completed,  Magyar 
made  preparations  to  visit  the  king  of  Bihe,  whose  capi- 
tal, Kombala,  was  about  two  days'  journey  distant. 
The  nearer  he  drew,  the  more  desolate  and  uninhab- 
ited the  country  became ;  the  African  rulers  employ 
their  power  to  plunder  those  of  their  subjects  who  are 
nearest  at  hand.  The  town  was  built,  like  the  vil- 
lages, on  the  summit  of  a  hill,  shadowed  by  huge  trees. 
A  narrow  foot-path  led  up  the  steep  and  rocky  height, 
to  the  gate  of  the  town,  where  the  traveller,  with  his 
native  attendants,  was  obliged  to  wait  an  hour  before 
entrance  was  allowed  them.  Within  the  gate  there 
was  a  large  grassy  square,  surrounded  with  trees,  be- 
yond which  appeared  the  low,  miserable  huts  and  dirty 
gtreets  of  the  town,  crowded  with  a  curious  multitude 
of  people. 


TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

Further  on,  he  reached  a  shady  square,  with  wooden 
benches,  the  place  where  the  inhabitants  were  ac- 
customed to  meet  and  discuss  public  affairs.  The 
people  were  more  carefully  dressed,  and  exhibited  a 
greater  refinement  and  tact  in  their  manners,  than 
tho.se  of  the  villages.  After  Magyar  had  again  waited 
for  a  time,  a  messenger  came  to  announce  that  the 
king  would  see  him  on  the  morrow;  in  the  meantime 
he  was  invited  to  rest  and  refresh  himself.  A  hut  was 
given  up  to  his  use,  provisions  in  abundance  were 
brought,  and  only  the  troublesome  curiosity  of  the 
natives  prevented  him  from  being  comfortable. 

The  next  morning  an  officer  of  the  court  came  to 
conduct  him  to  the  palace,  which  was  a  large  labyrinth 
of  buildings,  inclosed  by  a  high  palisade.  The  outer 
was  profusely  decorated  with  human  heads,  some 
of  them  bleached  to  the  bone,  others  fresh  as  if  just 
placed  there.  Having  passed  this,  with  a  feeling  that 
he  was  entering  the  den  of  a  lion,  Magyar  was  con- 
ducted by  many  winding  ways  to  a  door  in  an  inner 
palisade-wall,  through  which  he  finally  reached  the 
royal  court -yard.  After  waiting  here  for  another  half- 
hour,  the  s«>und  of  bells  announced  the  approach  of 
the  king.  He  entered,  took  his  seat  on  a  sort  of 
tli n»ue.  over  which  was  suspended  a  lion's  hide,  while 
,-t  page  km -It  at  his  feet  and  a  servant  with  a  qnagga'fl 
tail  .stood  behind  him.  On  either  side  the  chiefs  and 
warriors  of  the  court,  with  their  hair  twisted  into  the 
shape  of  a  helmet,  arranged  themselves  in  rows:  as 
weapons  they  bore  long  guns,  lances,  and  wooden 
clubs. 

The    king,  whose    name    was    Kavava-Kayangula, 


MAGYAR'S  JO URNE  Y  TO  BIHE.  267 

was  about  50  years  old,  and  of  a  tall,  lean  figure.  Ilia 
features  were  tolerably  regular,  and  would  have  been 
agreeable,  but  for  his  keen,  cunning  eyes.  He  wore  a 
kind  of  turban  on  his  head,  a  wide  blue  robe,  and  a 
gayly-striped  shawl  over  his  shoulders.  The  claws  of 
a  lion,  set  in  gold,  hung  as  a  talisman  on  his  breast, 
and  he  held  a  small  dagger  in  his  hand.  When  he 
had  taken  his  seat,  he  thrice  greeted  Magyar,  who. had 
also  seated  himself  on  a  camp-stool,  with  the  usual 
salutation :  "  Peace  be  with  you ! " — to  which  the 
latter  answered,  as  he  had  been  instructed :  "  Also 
with  you,  princely  father  ! "  while  the  warriors  shouted 
in  chorus  :  "  Hail,  mighty  Lion  !  raging  Lion  !  " 
Then  Magyar's  Tcissongo  related  all  the  incidents  of 
the  journey,  and  stated  his  master's  wish  to  make  his 
home  in  the  land  of  Bihe,  and  to  visit  the  other  tribes 
of  the  interior.  This  statement  lasted  more  than  half 
an  hour,  because,  although  it  was  made  in  the  language 
of  the  country,  every  word  must  be  repeated  to  the 
king  by  one  of  his  own  officers. 

The  "  raging  Lion"  listened  patiently,  and  at  the 
end  expressed  his  satisfaction.  His  answer  was :  "  You 
have  honored  me,  white  man,  with  the  confidence  you 
have  placed  in  me,  in  giving  up  the  comforts  which 
you  enjoyed  at  home,  among  your  own  people,  and 
coming  here  to  settle  among  us.  Therefore,  be  wel- 
come !  I  take  you  under  my  protection,  and  woe  be  to 
them  who  shall  dare  to  injure  your  person  or  your 
property !  I  grant  to  you  the  right  of  hospitality 
which  has  been  given  by  our  ancestors,  and  my  people 
must  know  and  respect  it."  The  twenty  principal 
chiefs  repeated  their   former  salutation,  as  an  accept- 


2(5  '»  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA, 

ance  of   the  king's  words,  and  the  traveller  thus  be- 
came aM  honorary  citizen  of  Bihe. 

The  king,  it  appeared,  had  visited  the  coast,  where 
he  had  seen  ships,  and  was  greatly  impressed  with  the 
knowledge  and  courage  of  the  European  race.  Magyar 
endeavored  to  persuade  him  that  the  negroes  might 
procure  for  themselves  many  of  the  things  for  which 
they  were  most  dependent  on  the  whites,  if  they 
would  only  be  more  industrious.  They  might,  for 
instance,  raise  and  weave  their  own  cotton,  besides 
learning  many  other  simple  arts,  which  would  be  of 
great  service.  The  king  admitted  the  truth  of  this, 
but  added  that  he  was  surrounded  with  such  dishonest 
persons,  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  intro- 
duce any  such  changes.  At  the  end  of  the  audience 
Magyar  was  conducted  to  his  hut,  and  a  festival,  in 
which  all  the  natives  took  part,  closed  the  day. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Magyar's  journeys  in  the  interior. 

DUEING  the  evening  after  his  reception  at  the 
palace,  Magyar  was  surprised  by  a  visit  from  the 
king.  The  latter  privately  informed  him  of  his  inten- 
tion to  undertake  a  foray  upon  a  neighboring  tribe,  and 
insisted  on  his  accompanying  the  expedition.  Under 
the  circumstances,  a  refusal  did  not  seem  politic,  and 
Magyar  therefore  temporarily  agreed,  in  the  hope  that 
some  means  of  escape  from  the  unwelcome  obligation 
would  yet  be  found. 

Before  continuing  the  history  of  his  personal  adven- 
tures, we  will  here  give  his  account  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  rule  of  the  royal  family  of  Bihe  has  been 
perpetuated  for  nearly  three  centuries.  As  soon  as  the 
king  appears  to  be  so  ill  that  his  death  is  probable,  the 
chiefs  nearest  to  him  in  authority  separate  him  from 
his  family  and  servants,  and  themselves  carry  on  the 
government  until  his  death.  When  this  last  circum- 
stance is  announced  his  many  wives  make  a  loud  outcry, 
and  thus  proclaim  it  to  the  people  of  the  capital.  The 
heir  to  the  throne  is  the  eldest  son  of  the  king's  eldest 
sister,  because  the  people  consider  that  the  purity  of 
blood  is  transmitted  through  woman,  not  through 
man.  For  this  reason,  when  a  male  slave  marries  a 
free  woman,  his  children  are  free.  But  the  hereditary 
prince  is  not  allowed  to  live  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 


270  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

reigning  king  :  he  dare  not  even  visit  the  latter ;  and 
he  is  therefore  quietly  brought  up  in  some  remote  part 
of  the  country.  When  the  king  is  dead,  the  prince  is 
escorted  to  the  vicinity  of  the  capital  where  a  tempor- 
ary camp  is  pitched,  while  the  corpse,  sewed  up  in  a 
fresh  ox-hide,  is  committed  to  the  earth,  in  the  midst 
of  a  number  of  slaughtered  slaves. 

The  best  warriors  of  the  nation  then  assemble  at 
the  camp,  and  plan  an  expedition  against  some  neigh- 
boring tribe,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  cap- 
tives. When  the  foray  has  succeeded,  and  a  sufficient 
number  of  prisoners,  of  both  high  and  low  rank,  have 
been  secured,  the  warriors  return  home.  One  of  the 
former  is  then  chosen  as  a  special  offering,  but  this  is 
6trictly  kept  secret  from  him.  He  is  allowed  a  certain 
degree  of  liberty,  is  invited  to  all  the  festivals,  fed  and 
entertained  in  the  best  manner,  and  finally,  in  the 
midst  of  some  inebriated  dance,  his  head  is  suddenly 
6truck  off  by  a  slave  who  steals  behind  him.  His  body 
is  then  cooked  with  the  flesh  of  dogs  and  buffaloes,  and 
eaten  by  the  chiefs.  Then,  first,  the  new  prince  is  pro- 
claimed king,  and  enters  on  his  reign. 

Magyar  returned  to  his  settlement,  and  imme- 
diately began  the  cultivation  of  his  fields.  Something 
of  his  prestige  was  lost,  however,  when  he  took  hold 
of  the  hoe  and  spade,  in  order  to  teach  his  slaves  a 
better  method  of  turning  up  the  soil.  It  was  there- 
fore all  the  more  necessary  that  he  should  conform  to 
the  prejudices  of  the  people  in  other  respects,  espe- 
cially in  employing  the  native  wizards,  when  any  of 
lis  people  were  sick.  This  last  expedient  was  the 
means  of   releasing  him  from  the  promise  wlii'th  ho 


MA  G  YAR  'S  JO  URNE  YS  IN  THE  INTERIOR.     271 

had  made  to  the  king.  As  the  time  for  the  expedi- 
tion drew  near,  he  complained  of  pains  in  the  body, 
and  bad  dreams,  which  the  wizards  declared  were 
produced  by  evil  spirits.  Magyar  then  explained  to 
them  that  his  participation  in  the  foray  was  pro- 
hibited by  the  laws  of  his  land,  and  this  was  proba- 
bly a  punishment  sent  upon  him  for  intending  to  vio- 
late them. 

The  magicians,  after  a  careful  physical  examina- 
tion of  the  patient,  retired  into  the  forest  to  consult. 
They  finally  decided  that  an  evil  spirit  had  entered 
into  Magyar's  body,  and  would  surely  kill  him  if  he 
should  accompany  the  expedition ;  but  the  spirit  could 
only  be  exorcised  by  slaughtering  an  ox,  and  sending 
presents  to  the  king.  The  ox  having  been  furnished, 
certain  figures  were  painted  with  the  blood  on 
Magyar's  forehead,  breast  and  arms,  and  a  piece  of 
cotton  with  the  same  marks  was  forwarded  to  the 
king,  together  with  a  keg  of  powder  and  some  bottles 
of  brandy.  The  cure  was  effectual ;  the  evil  spirit 
departed,  the  king  absolved  the  stranger  from  hia 
promise,  and — as  a  further  evidence  of  his  favor — seat 
him  his  daughter,  the  princess  Osoro,  as  a  wife. 

Magyar  found  the  second  dilemma  less  formid- 
able than  the  first.  An  unmarried  man  always  ex- 
cites suspicion  and  distrust  among  the  African  tribes, 
and  the  security  of  his  later  residence  among  the  peo- 
ple was  assured  by  his  acceptance  of  the  princess  as  a 
bride.  The  latter  was  14  years  old,  tall  and  slender, 
and  with  as  much  grace  and  amiability  as  could  be 
expected  of  any  JJihe  maiden.  She  came  to  him 
under  the  escort  of  two  of  her  brothers,  and  follows  d 


279  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

by  a  numerous  retinue  of  slaves,  and  the  wedding  was 
immediately  celebrated.  Magyar  seems  never  to 
have  regretted  his  compliance.  The  princess  Osoro 
adapted  herself  to  his  habits,  took  care  of  his  house- 
hold, and  became  the  mother  of  several  children,  one 
of  whom  was  one  of  the  prospective  heirs  to  the 
throne  of  Bihe. 

His  experiments  in  agriculture  were  less  success- 
ful The  people  cultivate  maize,  manioc,  and  beans, 
but  have  a  prejudice  against  potatoes  and  other  veg- 
etables which  he  introduced,  and  his  only  success  was 
in  substituting  tobacco  for  the  hemp  which  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  smoke.  They  raise  cattle,  sheep, 
pigs  and  fowls,  and  have  great  semi-annual  hunts, 
when  the  men  of  the  tribe  assemble,  surround  a  dis- 
trict of  country  and  slaughter  all  the  game  which  is 
cm ught  in  their  toils.  They  are  less  skilled  in  fishing, 
rinee  they  do  not  know  how  to  construct  nets.  They 
exhibit  some  natural  skill  as  blacksmiths,  but  are  de- 
ficient in  all  other  mechanical  arts. 

The  family  life  of  the  people  presents  some  singu- 
lar features.  As  soon  as  a  young  man  is  able  to  pur- 
chase a  wife,  he  marries;  and  his  ambition  is  to  have 
at  least  two,  since  it  is  the  wife's  duty  to  support  her 
husband,  and  the  more  wives  he  has,  the  better  is  his 
chance  to  be  supported  in  idleness  and  luxury.  The 
women  favor  polygamy,  for  the  reason  that  it  makes 
their  own  labor  lighter.  The  husband  has  not  the 
slightest  authority  over  his  own  children.  This  be- 
longs to  the  brother  of  the  mother,  who  may  do  as  he 
pleases  with  them,— even  sell  them  as  slaves.  Divor 
cos  are  easy  and  frequent,  but  the  right  is  exercise. i 


MAGYAR'S  JOURNEYS  IN  THE  INTERIOR.     273 

more  frequently  by  women  than  by  men.  The  great 
delight  of  the  latter  is  to  lie  on  the  ground,  smoke 
and  gossip  all  day,  and  listen  or  dance  to  music  in  the 
evening. 

Magyar  was  obliged  to  wait  for  favorable  opportu- 
nities of  penetrating  further  into  the  interior,  since  he 
meant  to  combine  trade  with  exploration.  His  choice 
of  residence  proved  to  be  fortunate.  The  Kimbundas 
not  only  learn  with  much  readiness  the  languages  and 
habits  of  other  tribes,  but  they  are  curious,  adventur- 
ous, and  always  read}T  for  journeys  into  new  regions. 
The  principal  article  of  commerce  is  ivory,  and,  as 
neither  the  elephant  nor  the  rhinoceros  is  found  on 
the  high  table-lands  of  Bihe,  a  proposal  to  procure  sup- 
plies further  inland  seemed  quite  reasonable  to  the 
natives. 

Magyar  had  heard  much  of  a  country  to  the  north- 
east, called  Moluwa, — a  temperate  highland  region, 
full  of  forests  and  with  plentiful  herds  of  elephants. 
In  1850,  he  succeeded  in  gathering  together  a  caravan 
of  about  400  persons,  and  set  out  on  a  journey  to  the 
Moluwa  country.  There  had  been  no  caravans  thither 
from  Bihe  for  several  years,  because  former  ones  had 
come  in  conflict  with  the  half-breed  traders  from  Lo- 
anda,  and  suffered  from  the  collision.  But  Magyar's 
proposal  attracted  a  number  of  the  best  warriors  and 
elephant-hunters,  who  volunteered  to  accompany  him. 
The  king  gave  his  permission,  although  informed  that 
the  princess  Osoro  would  accompany  her  husband. 
Starting  in  May,  the  caravan  followed  the  old  native 
foot-paths,  leading  eastward  towards  the  Coanza  River. 

The  country    is    covered    with    lakes   and    pools 


271  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

during  the  rainy  season,  which  become  marshes  in  the 

dry  months.  The  tirst  district  east  of  Bihe  is  called 
Kimbandi,  a  hilly,  fertile  country,  watered  by  nu- 
merous affluents  of  the  TJoanza.  The  latter  river  ia 
crossed  at  a  place  called  Kujo,  where  the  caravans 
usually  halt,  to  supply  themselves  with  provisions  for 
the  inarch  through  the  wilderness  beyond.  The  Kim- 
bandi people  are  thievish  and  treacherous,  but  not 
hostile  to  travellers.  Their  territory  is  bounded  on 
the  east  by  the  forests  of  Olowihenda,  which  form  a 
belt  of  division  between  the  western  and  the  central 
regions  of  the  continent. 

These  forests  cover  a  mountain-chain  which 
stretches  north  and  south  through  several  degrees  of 
latitude.  Towards  its  northern  extremity  (where  Liv- 
ingstone afterwards  crossed,)  they  have  a  breadth  of 
eight  days'  journey,  but  further  south,  a  caravan  re- 
quires sixteen  days  in  order  to  pass  them.  The  monot- 
ony of  the  dense  woods  is  only  occasionally  broken  by 
swampy  meadows  or  large  pools  of  water.  On  account 
of  the  streams  and  morasses,  beasts  of  burden  cannot 
be  used,  but  all  goods  are  slowly  and  painfully  carried 
forward  on  the  shoulders  of  men.  The  elephant  and 
rhinoceros  are  here  found  in  great  herds,  and  the  lion 
is  also  an  old  inhabitant. 

The  animal  most  feared  is  the  buffalo.  Magyar 
itates  that  during  his  many  journeys  he  lost  but  two 
of  his  men  from  lions,  but  a  large  number  from  the 
attacks  of  the  buffaloes.  It  is  true  that  the  former  is 
avoided,  while  the  latter  is  followed  on  account  of  his 
flesh.  If  the  first  shot  is  not  fatal,  and  the  hunter 
docs  not  succeed  in  instantly  reaching  a  place  of  safety, 


MAGYAR'S  JOURNEYS  IN  THE  INTERIOR.   275 

he  is  inevitably  tossed  into  the  air,  and  then  stamped 
to  death  by  the  sharp  hoofs  of  the  beast.  The  first 
impression  made  by  these  great  tropical  forests  is 
solen.n  and  imposing ;  the  silence,  the  luxuriance  of 
M-?  vegetation,  and  its  strange  forms,  excite  the  im- 
agination ;  but  in  a  short  time  the  scenery  becomes 
very  monotonous  and  oppressive. 

A  singular  race  of  human  beings  is  sometimes 
encountered  in  this  wilderness.  They  are  called  by  the 
natives  Mu-Kankala,  and  Magyar  describes  them  as 
the  most  miserable  creatures  he  ever  beheld.  They 
are  not  more  than  four  feet  in  height,  of  a  rusty  yel- 
low color,  and  with  features  which  seem  a  caricature 
of  the  human  face.  Their  legs  are  very  thin ;  the 
round,  protruding  abdomen  takes  up  one-third  of  the 
body ;  the  lean  neck  bears  a  large  head,  with  a  per- 
fectly flat  face,  in  which  wide  mouth  and  nostrils,  and 
small  twinkling  eyes  are  inserted.  Their  ears  are 
like  flaps,  and  their  hair  is  very  short  and  woolly. 
They  appear  to  be  a  peaceable  people,  and  unusually 
honest  in  their  intercourse  with  strangers.  They 
brought  ivory,  honey,  wax,  and  dried  meat  to  the 
caravan,  and  exchanged  these  articles  for  tobacco  and 
glass  beads.  These  poor  people  are  hunted  like  wild 
beasts  by  the  neighboring  tribes,  captured  and  sold  as 
slaves.  Some  of  the  latter,  whom  Magyar  bought, 
served  him  with  great  fidelity  and  did  not  leave  him 
even  while  passing  through  their  own  country. 

After  reaching  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Olowi- 
henda  forests,  the  highlands  give  place  to  a  picturesque 
mountainous  region,  inhabited  by  the  Chibokoe  tribe, 
tfho  gave  Livingstone  so  much  trouble  when  he  passed 


27G  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

through  a  portion  of  their  territory.  Magyar  com- 
pares the  region  to  Switzerland.  The  mountains  are 
mostly  isolated  conical  peaks,  divided  by  deep,  wind- 
ing and  moist  valleys,  which  are  very  fruitful  and  in- 
habited by  a  dense  population.  The  people  raise 
maize,  sorghum,  beans  and  tobacco,  and  are  much  bet- 
ter mechanics  than  those  of  Bihe.  The  forests  are 
rich  in  game  and  wild  honey. 

The  climate  of  this  region  is  cool  rather  than  tro]>icaL 
In  July,  Magyar  sometimes  found  that  vessels  of  water 
were  covered  with  a  thin  crust  of  ice  in  the  early  morn- 
ing, while  the  ground  was  once  or  twice  white  with 
frost.  The  mountain  streams  unite  to  form  four  con- 
siderable rivers  which  flow  to  the  northward  and  ap- 
pear to  be  affluents  of  the  great  river  Kasay.  None 
of  the  villages  contain  more  than  a  thousand  inhabi- 
tants :  they  are  simply  collections  of  straw  huts,  in  the 
forests,  and  each  one  is  known  by  the  name  of  its  chief. 

The  eastern  portion  of  the  Chibokoe  country  sinks 
into  a  great  marshy  plain  which  stretches  to  the  Kasay 
River.  Here  commences  the  Moluwa  kingdom,  which 
M  nryar  declares  to  be  the  most  powerful  in  Central 
Africa.  He  seems  to  confound  it  with  that  of  Cazembe, 
the  name  of  which  is  given  by  other  travellers  as  Lon- 
da,  while  the  king  is  called  the  Muata-janvo.  Mag- 
yar's account  of  the  Moluwa  king  corresponds  with 
that  given  of  the  former  by  Portuguese  traders,  lie 
enjoys  more  khan  human  reverence:  his  subjects  do 
not  dare  to  approach  him  except  creeping  on  all  fours, 
umi  casting  h  and  tills  of  earth  upon  their  heads.  His 
power  <>vcr  their  goods  and  lives  is  absolute  and  cruelly 
iwcivisod,   and  the  people  dare   to   disobey  his  com- 


MA  G  YAR  'S  JO  URNE  YS  IN  THE  INTERIOR.     277 

mands  only  in  the  remote  provinces.  Magyar  was  un- 
able to  ascertain  the  exact  boundaries  of  the  kingdom, 
but  conjectured  that  it  reached  to  Lat.  4°  N. — a  length 
of  nearly  1200  miles,  with  a  breadth  of  about  400  from 
east  to  west.  His  geographical  notes,  however,  are  fre- 
quently confused,  and  the  accounts  he  gives  require  to 
be  tested  by  those  of  Livingstone  and  other  travellers. 

Since  the  falling  off  of  the  slave-trade,  the  princi- 
pal article  of  commerce  is  ivory.  Wax  is  very  plenti 
ful,  but  the  difficulty  of  transport  is  too  great  to  mako 
it  profitable.  In  the  northern  and  eastern  parts  of  the 
kingdom  there  are  immense  forests  full  of  herds  of  ele- 
phants, the  tusks  of  which  often  weigh  120  pounds 
each.  The  price  of  them  is  kept  up  by  the  competi- 
tion of  the  Portuguese  from  the  western  and  the  Arab 
merchants  from  the  eastern  coast,  although  the  two,  or 
their  agents,  very  rarely  come  in  contact.  Strings  of 
cowries  and  white  beads  are  used  as  money,  as  well  as 
coils  of  copper  wire,  which  the  natives  smelt  from  mal- 
achite. The  have  also  iron  of  excellent  quality,  from 
which  they  forge  swords  and  lances. 

Magyar  describes  the  Moluwa  people  as  surpassing 
in  intellectual  capacity  all  the  other  South-African 
races.  They  have  a  tolerably  well-organized  social  sys- 
tem, based  upon  certain  traditions  of  their  race,  and  are 
usually  friendly  and  polite  in  their  intercourse  with 
strangers.  On  the  other  hand  they  are  governed  by 
the  grossest  forms  of  superstition,  and  still,  on  certain 
occasions,  offer  up  human  sacrifices. 

He  remained  more  than  a  year  among  them,  tak- 
ing up  a  temporary  residence  on  the  banks  of  tho 
Kasay  River,  where  he  cultivated   tobacco  for  his  own 


278  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

use.  The  natives,  who  had  previously  smoked  the 
leaves  of  hemp,  soon  learned  to  prefei  the  new  plant, 
and  began  also  to  raise  it.  Further  to  the  north,  the 
people  cultivate  sugar-cane,  pine-apples,  bananas,  and 
the  oil-bearing  palm.  An  unusual  quantity  of  fruit  is 
produced  in  the  neighborhood  of  Kabebo,  the  capital 
town.  This  place  contains  a  population  of  about 
50,000,  but  covers,  since  each  house  stands  within  its 
own  separate  inclosure,  an  area  of  eight  or  ten  squar« 
miles.  It  is  built  on  an  undulating  plain,  falling 
towards  the  east.  Streams  of  fresh  water  flow  through 
the  streets,  which  are  laid  out  at  right  angles,  and 
shaded  with  rows  of  large  trees.  The  houses  are  one 
6tory  high  and  thatched  with  straw  ;  those  of  the  king 
and  princes  are  larger  and  loftier,  but  none  of  them 
have  two  stories.  There  are  also  several  spacious  mar- 
ket-places, which  are  always  crowded  when  a  caravan 
arrives  from  the  coast  with  European  goods. 

The  dead  kings  are  always  buried  in  the  town  of 
Galanje,  further  to  the  northward.  Each  has  his  own 
particular  vault,  covered  with  a  conical  roof  of  straw : 
he  is  laid  in  the  centre,  dressed  in  his  richest  garments, 
and  surrounded  with  the  bodies  of  the  slaves  who  are 
slain  to  accompany  him.  Two  of  the  latter  are  always 
spaml,  to  take  care  of  the  grave,  which  is  kept  open  so 
long  as  the  dead  king's  successor  lives,  when  it  is 
closed  forever. 

The  Holnwa  kingdom  appears,  nevertheless,  to  ho 
out  thinly  populated:  Magyar  estimates  the  entire 
population  at  not  more  than  one  million.  In  the 
districts  to  the  north-east  the  villages  are  large  and 
near  together,  but  there  are  other  parts  of  the  country 


MA  G  YAR 'S  JO  URNE  YS  IN  THE  INTERIOR.     2  79 

where  the  traveller  finds  no  settlement  in  a  day's 
journey.  The  villages  are  generally  built  in  the 
forests,  1  at  each  is  surrounded  with  its  belt  of  cultiva- 
ted land,  which  gives  the  impression  of  a  bright  oasis 
in  the  dark  tropical  wilderness.  Towards  the  east 
the  country  becomes  lower,  the  forests  entirely  disap- 
pear, and  there  are  vast  grassy  plains,  some  of  which 
become  lakes  during  the  rainy  season.  It  is  to  be 
regretted  that  Magyar  was  unable  to  determine  the 
latitude  and  longitude  of  the  points  he  reached.  His 
travels  till  much  of  the  space  between  that  explored 
by  Livingstone  and  the  Lake  Tanganyika,  discovered 
by  Burton ;  but  he  is  not  an  exact  reporter,  and  his 
explorations  are  thus  deprived  of  their  legitimate  value. 

During  his  residence  in  the  Moluwa  country,  a 
son  w^as  born  to  him,  to  whom  he  gave  the  name 
of  "Shah-Kilambe-Gonga."  He  seems  to  have  been 
greatly  flattered  writh  the  idea  that  a  semi-Hungarian 
prince  might  one  day  inherit  one  of  the  barbaric 
thrones  of  Africa.  And  in  fact,  in  the  year  1854,  he 
was  visited  by  a  special  embassy  from  the  rulers  of 
Galangue  and  Sambos,  claiming  his  child  as  their  near 
relative,  and  endowing  him  with  the  rank  and  rights 
which  appertained  to  a  member  of  the  royal  house  of 
Bihe. 

In  the  year  1851  he  called  his  caravan  together, 
and  set  out  on  the  return  towards  his  adopted  home, 
taking  a  more  southern  route,  which  led  him  through 
the  district  called  Lobal,  ancj  across  the  upper  end  of 
Lhe  Zambesi  valley,  although  he  wTas  not  aware  of  the 
fact.  He  passed  indeed  over  a  small  portion  of  the 
route   afterwrards  traversed    by  Livingstone,    skirting 


280  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

the  Dilolo  lake,  and,  like  the  latter  traveller,  leading 
his  caravan  through  the  marshes  which  surround  it. 
He  speaks  of  the  lake  as  being  full  of  fish,  which  the 
natives  catch  in  great  quantities,  but,  as  they  dry  them 
without  the  use  of  salt,  the  taste  is  insupportable  to  a 
civilized  palate.  In  the  marshes  around  the  lake  there 
are  also  great  snakes  which  are  often  found  in  com- 
panies of  a  dozen  or  more,  coiled  together  in  the 
grass.  His  followers  did  not  show  the  least  fear  of 
the  reptiles,  but  eagerly  attacked  them,  and  after- 
wards roasted  and  partook  of  their  flesh  as  a  great 
delicacy. 

Magyar's  description  of  the  swampy  plains  around 
Lake  Dilolo  corresponds  exactly  with  Livingstone's,  of 
whose  later  visit  to  the  same  region  he  was  apparently 
ignorant.  He  describes  the  land  of  Lobal,  west  of  the 
lake,  as  a  region  of  plains  which  are  inundated  during 
the  rainy  season,  dotted  with  wooded  hills,  which  then 
become  islands.  He  speaks  of  the  Niambedji  River 
in  the  east,  and  this  is  undoubtedly  the  Leeambye  of 
Livingstone.  He  estimates  the  population  of  Lobal  at 
200,000, — people  of  vigorous  and  well-proportioned 
physical  character,  but  treacherous  and  unfriendly. 
They  will  receive  the  stranger  with  every  show  of  hospi- 
tality, and  the  next  day  lie  in  wait  to  plunder  him.  In- 
stead of  forming  a  nation  like  that  of  Moluwa  or  Bihc, 
each  region  has  its  petty  chief  or  chieftain  ess,  whoso 
relations  with  his  or  her  neighbors  are  hostile  rather 
than  friendly.  They  frequently  attack  each  other 
With  the  design  of  making  slaves  of  the  other's  peo 
as  if  there  were  no  relationship  of  blood  between  thorn. 
The  caravans  which  pass  through  Lobal  always  pur 


MAGYAR'S  JOURNEYS  IN  THE  INTERIOR.    2h  1 

chase  a  quantity  of  slaves  from  the  petty  chiefs,  and 
afterwards  exchange  them  for  ivory  with  other  tribes. 
In  some  of  his  later  journeys  Magyar  again  visited 
the  Lobal  country.  Some  slaves  whom  he  had  purchased 
on  his  first  visit  accompanied  him,  but  not  one  of  them 
attempted  to  desert  and  remain  in  his  native  Kind. 
lie  describes  one  of  the  chiefs,  named  Kinjama,  as  a 
man  more  than  a  hundred  years  old,  who  received  him 
with  the  greatest  kindness.  A  strong  contrast  to  him 
is  another  chief  named  the  Parroquet,  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  country,  who  is  famous  for  his  cruelty  and 
his  exactions  upon  travellers.  The  result  was  that  the 
caravans,  whenever  it  was  possible,  made  a  wide  detour 
rather  than  pass  through  his  territory. 

Magyar  took  a  south-western  course  through 
Lobal,  and  entered  the  Buunda  region,  passing  ita 
capital,  Kissembo.  Here  he  again  struck  the  Olowi- 
henda  forests,  which  he  crossed  in  a  westerly  direction, 
and  returned  to  his  residence  in  Bihe.  For  four  or 
live  years  he  seems  to  have  made  an  extensive  caravan 
journey  every  year,  and  to  have  followed  his  original 
plan  of  penetrating  gradually  further  towards  the  east 
and  south.  Unfortunately,  he  has  given  us  no  detailed 
account  of  any  of  these  journeys,  the  extent  and  char- 
acter of  which  we  can  only  conjecture  from  his  frag- 
mentary notes.  The  year  after  his  return  from  the 
Moluwa  kingdom,  he  made  a  journey  to  the  country 
of  the  Kilengues,  lying  further  to  the  south,  and  the 
year  afterwards  (1853)  he  claims  to  have  reached  the 
Kunene  River,  which  was  sought  for  so  persistently  by 
Anderson  and  Green,  and  to  have  explored  a  consider 
able  portion  of  its  course. 


282  TKA  VELS  IN  SO  UTH  AFRICA. 

During  this  journey  lie  visited  the  Portuguese 
u  Presidio  de  Caconda,"  of  which  he  gives  a  curious 
account.  It  lies  far  in  the  interior,  not  far  from  the 
head-waters  of  the  Kunene  Iliver,  and  contains  about 
3,000  inhabitants.  The  fort  and  town  are  surrounded 
with  walls  of  earth,  and  palisades,  and  defended  by  eight 
cannon,  but  the  garrison  consists  of  only  a  single  com- 
pany of  negro  soldiers,  under  the  command  of  the  Gov- 
ernor. Formerly  there  was  an  important  trade  between 
this  point  and  the  coast,  but  with  the  breaking  up  of 
the  traffic  in  slaves  it  has  fallen  off.  The  climate  is 
comparatively  cool  and  healthy,  whence  the  Portuguese 
traders  who  once  settled  here,  took  negro  wives,  and 
produced  a  race  of  mulattoes  who  still  inhabit  the 
place. 

On  his  return  from  this  southern  journey,  Magyar's 
caravan  was  attacked  by  a  band  of  robbers,  in  the  for- 
ests of  Lusseke.  After  a  prolonged  light,  the  enemy 
was  driven  off  with  considerable  loss.  lie  relates, 
however,  that  these  predatory  bands  sometimes  em- 
brace whole  tribes,  and  number  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
thousand  fighting  men.  In  such  cases,  they  are  irresis- 
tible; they  burst  upon  the  territories  of  weaker  tribes, 
6lay,  lay  waste  and  capture  as  they  proceed,  and  leave 
t  desert  behind  them. 

We  can  only  guess  from  Magyar's  further  notes 
chat  he  remained  upon  his  possessions  in  Bihe  in  1854. 
i.ut  the  next  year  he  started  again,  crossed  the  Olow- 
Ihenda  wilderness,  and  reached  the  country  cf  Lobal. 
Bow  far  his  explorations  extended  cannot  be  ascer- 
tained. On  hifl  return  he  was  again  attacked  by  a 
sarge  body  of  the  natives,  and  only  succeeded  in  repel- 


MAGYAR'S  JOURNEYS  IN  THE  INTERIOR.    283 

ling  them,  after  a  hard  fight  which  lasted  several  hours. 
The  supply  of  powder  was  thereby  so  reduced  that 
the  caravan  was  obliged  to  return  to  Bihe  by  forced 
marches. 

In  1856  he  undertook  to  revisit  Benguela,  since  it 
was  in  this  year  that  the  Donna  Isabel,  whom  he  met 
during  his  inland  journey  in  1849,  rescued  him  from 
death  ;  but  in  what  manner  we  are  not  informed.  His 
death  must  have  occurred  about  this  time,  or  soon  after- 
wards, and  thus  some  of  the  most  important  geograph- 
ical questions,  upon  which  he  might  have  thrown  a 
great  deal  of  light,  are  left  unsolved.  What  informa- 
tion he  has  given,  however,  bears  the  stamp  of  truth. 
His  system  of  exploration  was  bold,  intelligent  and 
successful ;  he,  no  less  than  Livingstone,  has  shown 
how  much  courage  and  an  unflinching  determination 
will  accomplish. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Livingstone's  expedition  to  lake  nyassa. 

LIVINGSTONE'S  narrative  of  his  journey  across 
the  African  continent,  published  in  1857,  excited 
the  greatest  interest  throughout  the  civilized  world. 
The  importance  of  his  discoveries  was  everywhere  rec- 
ognized, and  his  own  determination  to  undertake  a  new 
journey  of  exploration  met  with  a  hearty  support  from 
the  English  Government  and  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society,  as  well  as  from  private  individuals.  The 
object  of  this  second  expedition  was  to  ascertain 
whether  the  Zambesi  River  was  navigable  to  a  point 
near  the  Makololo  country,  and  to  penetrate  the 
regions  north  of  that  river,  so  as  to  connect  Living- 
stone's discoveries  with  those  of  Burton  and  Speke,  in 
Equatorial  Africa. 

The  Earl  of  Clarendon,  then  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  united  with  the  Geographical  Society  in  pro- 
viding for  the  outfit  of  the  expedition,  and  Dr.  Living- 
stone was  joined  by  his  brother,  the  Rev.  Charles  Liv- 
ingstone, who  had  been  living  as  a  clergyman  in  Mas- 
sachusetts for  souh4  years,  by  Dr.  Kirk,  an  accomplished 
botanist,  and  Mr.  Thornton,  who,  however,  left  the 
party  soon  after  their  arrival  in  the  Zambesi  country, 
and  joined  Baroi  Van  der  Decker  in  his  attempt  to 
reach  the  mountain  Kiliinandjaro.     The  supplies  were 


EXPEDITION  TO  LAKE  NYASSA.  285 

procured  with  especial  reference  to  the  regions  to  be 
traversed,  and  everything  was  done  which  promised  to 
insure  success  in  advance. 

The  expedition  left  England  on  the  10th  of  March, 
1858,  in  the  steamer  Pearl,  and,  proceeding  by  the 
way  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  reached  the  mouth  of 
the  Zambesi  River  in  May.  The  navigation  of  this 
river,  both  as  a  highway  for  commerce  and  means  for 
the  christianization  of  Africa,  was  Livingstone's  first 
object,  and  if  he  was  finally  disappointed  therein,  the 
results  of  his  undertaking  are  none  the  less  important 
in  a  geographical  point  of  view.  He  brought  with 
him  a  smaller  steamer,  in  sections,  which  were  then 
put  together  and  launched,  under  the  name  of  the  Ma- 
Robert  (mother  of  Robert), — a  name  wdiich  was  given 
by  the  Makololo  to  Mrs.  Livingstone,  when  she  accom- 
panied him  on  the  first  journey  to  Lake  Ngami. 

On  reaching  Mazaro,  where  the  delta  of  the  Zam- 
besi begins  and  its  arms  branch  off  towards  the  sea, 
Livingstone  found  the  Portuguese  at  war  with  a  half- 
breed  who  had  forcibly  taken  possession  of  the  north- 
ern bank  of  the  river  as  far  as  the  Shire,  and  plundered 
at  wilL 

A  battle,  of  which  he  was  a  spectator,  took  place 
at  Mazaro,  but  it  fortunately  ended  in  the  defeat  of 
the  native  chief,  and  he  was  able  to  go  forward  with 
safety.  The  steamer,  driven  by  the  heat  of  burned 
ebony  and  lignum  vitse,  slowly  ascended  the  river, 
passed  Shupanga,  which  wTas  to  be  the  grave  of  Mrs. 
Livingstone  three  years  later,  and  reached  the  mouth 
of  the  Shire.  Here,  however,  no  halt  was  made :  Liv- 
ingstone pushed  on  with  difficulty,  on  account  of  the 


286  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

imperfect  construction  of  the  boat,  which  was  scarcely 
able  to  stein  the  current,  and  on  the  8th  of  September 
reached  Tete,  where  he  had  left  his  faithful  Makololos 
in  1856.  They  were  still  waiting  for  him,  and  their 
joy  at  his  appearance  was  very  great.  Some  fell  upon 
his  neck,  while  others  exclaimed  :  "Do  not  touch  him 
--  -you  will  soil  his  new  clothes !  "  and  the  native  niin- 
Btrels  struck  up  a  chant  of  rejoicing. 

As  it  was  low  water  in  the  Zambesi,  an  examina- 
tion of  the  Kebrabasi  Rapids  in  the  river,  some  forty 
or  fifty  miles  above  Tete,  was  made  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  whether  the  steamer  would  be  able  to 
pass  them  during  high  water.  The  result  was  en- 
tirely unfavorable ;  whereupon  Dr.  Livingstone  wrote 
to  England  asking  that  a  new  and  more  powerful 
steamer  should  be  sent,  and  meanwhile  decided  to  un- 
dertake an  exploration  of  the  Shire,  which  river  was 
wholly  unknown  to  the  Portuguese  officials,  who  de- 
clared that  they  had  been  unable  to  navigate  it  on 
account  of  the  density  of  the  growth  of  water  plants. 

Livingstone  entered  the  river  in  January,  1859, 
and  found  that  the  steamer  was  able  to  force  its  way 
through  the  aquatic  vegetation,  which  gradually  be- 
came less  dense,  and  finally  ceased,  leaving  a  clear, 
deep  stream.  At  the  villages  on  the  banks  the  natives 
collected  in  great  numbers,  brandishing  their  spi 
and  making  signs  of  attack,  but  when  he  explained  to 
them  that  he  was  not  a  Portuguese,  that  he  did  not 
deal  in  slaves,  and  that  his  object  was  peaceful,  their 
demeanor  changed  at  once,  and  the  signs  of  hostility 
ceased.  Ere  long  the  expedition  reached  a  great  iso- 
lated  mountain,  called  Moramballa,  about  4,000  feet 


EXPEDITION  TO  LAKE  JVYASSA.  287 

in  height,  and  wooded  to  its  summit  High  up  on  its 
Bide  there  was  a  native  village,  enjoying  a  pleasant 
and  temperate  climate.  Beyond  this  point  the  river 
flows  through  great  marshes,  the  waters  of  which  are 
itarred  with  the  blossoms  of  the  lily  and  lotus. 

The  navigation  of  the  river  through  these  marshes 
was  very  slow  and  difficult.  The  frequent  shallows 
occasioned  great  delay  to  the  steamer,  and  though  the 
native  villages  appeared  to  be  well  supplied  with 
goats  and  fowls,  it  was  very  difficult  to  procure  pro- 
visions. After  attaining  a  distance  of  a  hundred  miles 
in  a  straight  line  from  the  mouth  of  the  river,  all  fur- 
ther progress  with  the  steamer  was  suddenly  cut  off 
by  a  series  of  cataracts  and  rapids,  40  miles  in  extent, 
to  the  first  and  most  important  of  which  Livingstone 
gave  the  name  of  Murchison  Falls.  The  difference 
of  level  between  the  lower  valley  of  the  Shire  and 
the  upper,  beyond  these  rapids,  is  1,200  feet.  After 
establishing  friendly  relations  with  the  chiefs  in  the 
neighborhood,  Livingstone  went  back  to  Tete  for  fur- 
ther supplies,  returned  in  March,  and  making  the  vil- 
lage of  the  native  chief  Shibisa  his  starting-point,  set 
out  on  foot  with  Dr.  Kirk  and  the  Makololos  for  a 
new  lake  which  was  said  to  lie  to  the  eastward.  The 
natives  of  the  country  through  which  they  passed 
made  hostile  demonstrations,  and  the  greatest  courage 
and  prudence  was  necessary  to  avoid  conflict  with 
them. 

Finally,  on  the  18th  of  April,  1859,  Livingstone 
reached  Lake  Shirwa.  The  water  was  slightly  brack- 
ish, and  the  shores  bordered  with  reeds  and  papyrus 
olants.     The  lake  has  no  outlet,  although  several  small 


2S8  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

riven  empty  into  it.  The  eastern  shore  is  hilly,  while 
the  western  rises  into  a  range  of  mountains,  7,000  feet 
in  height,  dividing  the  lake  from  the  valley  of  the 
SI  lire.  The  breadth  of  this  sheet  of  water  was  esti- 
mated at  20  miles ;  the  length  towards  the  north  could 
not  be  exactly  ascertained,  but  the  explorers  were  as- 
sured that  it  was  divided  by  a  narrow  strip  of  territory 
from  another  lake  of  much  larger  dimensions.  Its  ele- 
vation above  the  sea  was  about  1,200  feet.  After  re- 
maining two  days  on  the  shore,  Livingstone  and  Kirk 
postponed  further  explorations,  returned  to  the  steamer 
and  descended  to  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi  for  fresh 
supplies. 

In  August  they  again  ascended  the  Shire,  wdien 
they  found  the  natives  busily  engaged  in  collecting  the 
roots  of  the  lotus,  which  they  store  away  as  an  article 
of  food.  When  roasted,  the  flavor  is  much  like  that 
of  a  chestnut.  The  progress  up  the  river  was  slow,  on 
account  of  the  leaky  condition  of  the  Ma-Robert,  while 
the  travellers  suffered  terribly  from  the  clouds  of  mos- 
qtritoe  which  hung  over  the  marshes.  On  reaching 
Bhibisa's  village  they  left  the  steamer  and  set  out  north- 
wards, on  foot,  with  thirty-six  Makololos  and  two  guides, 
towards  the  great  lake  Nyassa,  which,  although  known 
through  the  reports  of  the  Arab  and  Portuguese  tra- 
ders, had  not  yet  been  seen  by  any  European. 

They  soon  reached  a  table-land,  3,000  feet  above 
the  sea,  with  a  better  climate  and  purer  atmosphere. 
The  scenery  was  inspiring,  for  basaltic  peaks,  from  one 
to  five  thousand  feet  in  height,  rose  above  the  general 
level,  and  the  distance  was  filled  with  lofty  mountain- 
ranges.     The  tribe  which  inhabits  this  region  is  called 


EXPEDITION  TO  LAKE  NYASSA.  289 

the  Mangandia.  They  appear  to  be  related  to  the 
Kaffers,  and  are  physically  somewhat  superior  to  the 
natives  aloii£  the  Zambesi.  The  women  deform  them- 
selves  hideously  by  covering  their  bodies  with  scars, 
and  piercing  their  upper  lips  for  the  insertion  of  rings 
of  wood  or  ivory,  which  are  gradually  increased  in  size 
until  they  reach  two  inches  in  diameter.  This  orna- 
ment, which  is  called  the  pelele,  makes  their  natuial 
ugliness  almost  frightful. 

Following  the  upper  valley  of  the  Shire,  the  ex- 
pedition soon  reached  the  Pamalombe  Lake,  into  which 
the  river  expands.  It  is  ten  miles  in  length  by  five 
in  breadth,  and  swarms  with  fish.  A  native  chief 
living  near  the  lake  assured  them  that  there  was  no 
great  body  of  water  within  two  months'  journey ;  yet 
they  were  then  only,  as  it  afterwards  proved,  one  day's 
march  from  Lake  Nyassa.  On  the  16th  of  Sep- 
tember, in  fact — in  less  than  three  weeks  from  the 
time  they  left  the  steamer — they  reached  the  shore  of 
the  lake,  at  the  point  where  the  Shire  issues  from  it, 
in  lat.  14°  25 '  S.  The  German  traveller,  Dr.  Albert 
Roscher,  who  penetrated  inland  from  Quiloa,  and 
made  his  way  to  Lake  Nyassa  from  the  east,  reached 
it  on  the  19th  of  October  of  the  same  year — only  33 
days  after  Livingstone,  but  at  the  opposite  extremity. 
Roscher  was  murdered  soon  afterwards,  and  his  ac- 
count of  his  journey  is  lost  to  the  world. 

The  party  remained  but  a  short  time  at  the  south- 
ern end  of  Lake  Nyassa,  which  they  did  not  attempt 
to  explore  further.  After  a  journey  of  forty  days  on 
foot,  d  uring  which  they  suffered  many  privations  and 
were  accidentally  poisoned  by  eating  some  cassava 
19 


290  TRA  VELS  IN  SO  U Til  A FRICA . 

roots  which  were  not  properly  prepared,  they  reached 
the  steamer.  Dr.  Kirk  and  the  engineer  were  sent  in 
a  direct  coarse  across  the  country  to  Tete,  while  Liv- 
ingstone and  his  brother  followed  the  river,  arriving 
at  the  latter  place  on  the  2d  of  February,  1860.  His 
next  plan  was  to  retrace  his  old  route  in  1855  and  '56, 
and  return  to  the  Makololo  country  in  the  upper 
Zambesi  valley,  but  this  obliged  him  to  wait  until  the 
month  of  May  before  starting.  One  object  of  his 
journey  was  to  take  back  the  faithful  Makololos  who 
had  accompanied  him  to  Tete;  the  other  to  ascertain 
the  condition  of  the  missionary  stations  which,  accord- 
ing to  his  advice,  had  been  established  in  the  upper 
Zambesi  valley.  He  succeeded  entirely,  in  the  former 
particular;  but  the  latter  was  far  from  meeting  the 
sanguine  expectations  in  which  he  had  indulged. 

Leaving  Tete  towards  the  end  of  May,  1860,  Dr 
Livingstone,  accompanied  by  his  brother  and  Dr.  Kirk, 
followed  nearly  the  same  route  he  had  travelled  more 
than  four  years  before.  His  narrative  contains  some 
interesting  particulars  of  the  habits  of  the  native 
tribes,  but  lacks  the  interest  of  his  first  journey.  In 
September  the  party  reached  the  great  cataract  of  the 
Zambesi,  and  then  went  on  to  the  town  of  Sesheke, 
where  they  found  the  chief  Sekeletu  still  alive,  but 
Suffering  from  a  leprous  disease.  At  Linyanti,  Living- 
stone's wagon  still  stood,  with  his  scientific  instru- 
ments and  some  goods,  as  he  had  left  it  seven  y< 
before!  The  English  missionaries,  who  with  their 
wives  and  children  had  reached  the  same  spot  only 
sight  months  before,  were  dead  or  departed.  All 
that  remained  was  seven   graves:  Mr.    Helmore,  hia 


EXPEDITION  TO  LAKE  NYASSA.  29J 

wife,  Mrs.  Price  and  their  children  had  died  of  the 
fatal  African  fever,  within  reach  of  the  supply  of  med- 
icine which  Livingstone  had  left  in  his  wagon.  The 
accounts  of  this  unfortunate  enterprise  are  conflicting. 
It  seems  that  the  missionary  expedition  had  endured 
great  suffering  during  the  journey,  and  was  poorly 
supplied ;  on  the  other  hand,  they  were  badly  treated 
by  the  Makololos,  and  the  chief  Sekeletu  prevented 
them  from  removing  to  a  healthier  part  of  the  country. 

On  the  return  journey  to  Tete,  the  attempt  was 
made  to  pass  the  Kebrabasa  Rapids  in  canoes,  the  water 
being  very  low.  It  was  an  unfortunate  failure,  occasion- 
ing the  loss  of  the  instruments  and  Dr.  Kirk's  botani- 
cal collections.  After  reaching  the  steamer  they  em- 
barked for  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi,  but  on  the  21st 
of  December  the  leaky  craft  grounded  on  a  sand-bank, 
and  began  to  go  to  pieces.  This  was  the  end  of  the 
Ma-Robert. 

In  the  meantime,  notice  of  the  discovery  of  Lakes 
Shirwa  and  Nyassa  had  reached  England,  and  a  mission- 
ary expedition,  called  the  "  Universities'  Mission,"  was 
fitted  out  under  the  auspices  of  the  Universities  of  Ox- 
ford and  Cambridge.  At  its  head  was  Bishop  Macken- 
zie, formerly  Archdeacon  of  Natal ;  he  was  assisted  by 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Proctor,  Scudamore,  Burr  up  and 
Rowley,  together  with  a  physician,  and  some  artists 
and  scientific  men.  The  object  of  the  mission  was  to 
establish  stations  in  Central  Africa,  from  which  Chris- 
tianity could  be  gradually  taught  to  the  native  tribes, 
Sagether  with  agriculture  and  such  other  arts  as  might 
assist  in  breaking  up  the  slave-trade.  The  members 
left  in   England  in  October,   1860,  and  reached  the 


2()2  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

mouth  of  the  Zambesi  the  following  February,  shortly 
after  the  arrival  of  the  Pioneer ',  the  new  steamer  which 
Livingstone  had  requested  to  have  forwarded  to  him. 

Although  each  expedition  was  independent  of  the 
other,  it  was  advisable  that  the  two  should  act  in  con- 
cert. The  Bishop  and  his  followers  were  desirous  of 
reaching  the  cooler  table-lands  of  the  Shire,  and  there 
commencing  their  work,  as  soon  as  possible,  while  Liv- 
ingstone strongly  advised  them  to  ascend  the  Rovuma 
River,  which  empties  into  the  Indian  Ocean  between 
the  parallels  of  10°  and  11°  S.,  north  of  the  Portuguese 
territory,  and  thence  make  the  journey  by  land.  This 
proposition  was  finally  adopted,  the  Pioneer  was  given 
to  the  Universities'  Mission,  and  entered  the  mouth  of 
the  Rovuma  on  the  11th  of  March.  But  the  river  was 
rapidly  falling,  and  after  an  attempt  of  ten  days,  dur- 
ing which  little  progress  was  made,  the  boat  turned 
back.  In  the  meantime  so  much  sickness  had  broken 
out  on  board,  that  the  expedition  sailed  to  the  Comoro 
Islands  to  recruit. 

Returning  to  the  Zambesi,  the  Pioneer  was  found 
to  be  a  good  boat  for  the  purpose,  except  that  she  drew 
too  much  water.  Nevertheless,  by  the  beginning  of 
July,  1861,  Livingstone  and  his  party,  with  the  Uni- 
versities' Mission,  reached  the  village  of  Shibisa,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Murehison  Cataracts,  on  the  Shire.  Here 
very  unfavorable  news  awaited  them.  A  tribe  called 
the  Ajawa  had  overrun  the  table-land  inhabited  by  the 
Manganja,  destroyed  their  villages,  and  carried  off 
many  of  the  people  as  slaves.  Nevertheless  the  com- 
bined expedition  set  out,  and  marched  for  a  few  days 
without  encountering  any  hostility.     They  then  came 


EXPEDITION  TO  LAKE  NYASSA.  293 

upon  a  caravan  of  slaves,  whom  they  liberated,  follow- 
ing their  instincts  rather  than  calculating  the  possible 
consequences.  Others  were  afterwards  liberated,  to  the 
number  of  148  in  all,  and  the  missionaries  determined 
to  keep  them  together  and  instruct  them,  as  the  begin- 
ning of  their  work. 

Bishop  Mackenzie  accepted  the  invitation  of  one  of 
Manganja  chiefs,  to  establish  his  mission  near  the  vil- 
lage of  the  latter,  Magomero,  a  beautiful  and  apparently 
healthy  place,  not  far  from  Lake  Shirwa.  Before  this 
was  done,  the  two  parties  were  attacked  by  a  band  of 
the  Ajawas,  but  drove  off  the  enemy.  There  seems  to 
have  been  some  difference  of  opinion  between  Dr.  Liv- 
ingstone and  Bishop  Mackenzie  as  to  the  proper  policy 
to  be  pursued,  and  the  parties  divided,  the  former 
returning  to  the  steamer  to  make  preparations  for  an 
exploration  of  Lake  Nyassa,  while  the  latter  settled 
themselves  at  Magomero. 

The  Pioneer  had  brought  out  a  four-oared  boat  in 
sections,  which  were  carried  around  the  cataracts  and 
rapids  of  the  Shire  by  the  natives,  after  which  it  was 
put  together  by  two  or  three  English  sailors,  one  of 
whom  accompanied  the  two  Livingstones  and  Dr. 
Kirk.  They  found  the  upper  Shire  a  broad  and  deep 
stream,  with  no  impediments  to  navigation.  The  evi- 
dence of  malaria  in  the  air  obliged  them  to  hasten  on, 
and  reach  the  fresher  and  cooler  atmosphere  of  the 
great  lake.  The  southern  end  of  Nyassa,  out  of  which 
fJie  Shire  flows,  is  about  thirty  miles  long,  by  from  ten 
to  twelve  in  breadth.  Beyond  a  high  headland,  to 
which  Livingstone  gave  the  name  of  Maclear,  another 
arm  stretches  in  a  south-western  direction  for  a  distance 


294  TRA  VELS  W  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

of  fifteen  or  twenty  miles.  The  main  body  of  the  lake, 
at  the  junction  of  these  two  arms,  tyis  a  breadth  of 
about  twenty  miles,  but  gradually  expands  to  the 
northwards  until  it  reaches  a  breadth  of  fifty  or  sixty, 
so  that  from  one  side  the  opposite  shore  canrot  be 
seen.  The  whole  length  of  the  lake  is  not  less  than 
200  miles.  It  appears  to  be  surrounded  by  mountains, 
but  they  are  evidently  only  the  fronts  of  lofty  table- 
lands, like  those  described  by  Magyar  in  travelling 
inland  from  Benguela.  The  surface  of  the  lake  is 
1,300  feet  above  the  sea. 

It  was  a  stormy  time  of  the  year  when  they  entered 
the  lake,  for  which  reason  they  were  unable  to  cross 
it,  while  the  air  was  so  thick  with  cloud  and  haze 
that  they  had  very  rare  views  of  the  distant  shores. 
Violent  squalls  burst  upon  them  with  hardly  a  mo- 
ment's warning,  and  more  than  once  their  escape  from 
shipwreck  seemed  almost  miraculous.  Livingstone 
asserts  that  he  never  beheld  such  waves  as  on  Lake 
Nyassa.  Fortunately  the  sailor  who  accompanied  him 
was  accustomed  to  similar  storms  on  the  coast  of  Ire- 
land, and  his  skill  in  the  management  of  the  boat  was 
of  priceless  service.  The  western  shore,  which  they 
Bkirted,  was  densely  populated.  The  people  crowded 
tin1  strand,  by  thousands,  to  witness  the  singular  speo- 
tacle  of  a  sail-boat,  and  gaze  at  the  strange  white  men 
when  they  landed.  In  general  they  were  friendly,  and 
only  unci-  was  any  tribute  demanded  tor  passing  their 
territory. 

The  Makololo  and  other  native  attendants  on  shore, 
who  carried  the  supplies  of  the  expedition,  could  only 
march  very  slowly,  and  as  it  had  been  arranged  that 


EXPEDITION  TO  LAKE  NY  ASS  A.  295 

they  and  the  boat  should  meet  every  evening,  the  pro- 
gress of  the  latter  was  greatly  delayed.  Besides,  as 
they  approached  the  northern  end  of  the  lake  they 
found  a  state  of  war,  and  the  safety  of  the  land  party 
became  so  uncertain  that  Livingstone  turned  about  be- 
fore quite  reaching  the  extremity.  His  brother  and 
Dr.  Kirk  reached  the  parallel  of  11°,  where  they  saw 
the  mountains  of  the  opposite  shore  closing  in,  and 
conjectured  that  the  end  of  the  lake  was  under  Lat. 
10°,  but  it  may  possibly  extend  a  considerable  distance 
further.  After  an  exploration  of  nearly  two  months  on 
and  near  the  lake  (on  its  western  side,  only,)  the  party 
returned  to  the  steamer  in  November,  1861. 

Soon  after  their  arrival,  Bishop  Mackenzie  made  his 
appearance,  with  some  English  sailors  who  had  gone 
to  Magomero  for  their  health.  The  Mission  appeared 
to  be  flourishing :  the  hostile  Ajawas  had  left  the 
country,  the  native  Manganjas  were  friendly,  and  there 
was  every  prospect  that  the  missionaries  would  be  able 
to  support  themselves,  in  the  lack  of  supplies  from 
England.  It  only  remained  to  open  a  convenient  road 
from  their  station  to  the  head  of  navigation  on  the 
Shire,  and  this  the  Bishop  undertook  to  do  at  once,  in 
order  to  meet  his  sister  and  Mr.  Burrup's  wife,  the  fol- 
lowing January. 

The  brief  history  of  the  Universities'  Mission,  as  it 
is  related  by  the  only  survivor,  Mr.  Rowley,  is  both 
interesting  and  instructive.  In  their  zeal  for  imme- 
diately suppressing  the  slave  trade,  the  missionaries 
allowed  themselves  to  be  persuaded  by  the  Mangan- 
jas to  join  in  a  war  against  the  Ajawas,  whom  they 
after  found  to  be  quite  a  peaceable  people.     But  much 


296  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

valuable  time  had  been  lost  before  this  discovery  was 
made :  the  situation  of  Magomero  proved  to  be  un- 
healthy, and  before  good  buildings  could  be  completed 
the  rainy  season  came  on,  with  fever  in  its  train.  An 
attempt  made  by  two  of  the  members  to  reach  the 
Zambesi  failed,  and  the  Bishop,  having  received  word 
from  Livingstone  that  he  would  come  for  him  in  his 
steamer  on  the  1st  of  January,  1862,  left  Magomero 
with  one  companion.  He  did  not  arrive  until  the 
10th.  when  the  steamer  had  left :  and,  worn  out  with 
fever  and  privations,  died  in  two  weeks  afterwards. 

Mr.  Bnrrnp  followed  him  to  the  grave  in  less  than 
a  month.  Messrs.  Scudamore  and  Rowley  then  re- 
moved the  Mission  to  the  banks  of  the  Shire,  where 
the  former,  with  Dr.  Dickinson,  the  physician,  soon 
afterwards  died,  and  the  few  remaining  members  of 
the  Mission  left  the  country.  Another  victim  to  the 
terrible  climate  was  Mrs.  Livingstone,  who,  after  join- 
ing her  husband  in  January,  died  at  Shupanga,  on  the 
lower  Zambesi,  on  the  27th  of  April,  and  was  buried 
there,  under  a  majestic  baobab-tree. 

The  third  vessel  sent  to  Livingstone,  the  Lady 
Nyassa,  was  put  together  and  successfully  launched 
at  Shupanga,  by  the  end  of  June.  By  this  time  the 
Shire  River  was  so  low  that  the  new  steamer  could  not 
ascend  it,  and  the  climate  of  the  lower  Zambesi  was  so 
unhealthy  that  it  was  not  prudent  to  remain  longer. 
Livingstone,  therefore,  determined  to  attempt  the  nav- 
igation of  the  Rovuma,  wherein  the  Universities' 
Mission  had  failed,  more  than  a  year  before.  After 
visiting  the  island  of  Johanna,  he  entered  the  month 
of  the  river  early  in  September,  and  commenced  the 


EXPEDITION'  TO  LAKE  NYASSA.  297 

ascent.  Although  the  shores  were  bold  and  hilly,  his 
progress  was  delayed  by  sand-bars  and  snags,  and  the 
stream,  only  thirty  or  forty  miles  from  the  coast,  be- 
came so  shallow  that  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the 
steamer  and  push  forward  in  smaller  boats. 

The  natives  along  the  Rovuma  belong  to  a  tribe 
called  the  Makonda,  a  shy,  timid  race,  who  feared  the 
strangers  too  much  to  molest  them.  It  was  with  diffi- 
culty that  provisions  could  be  procured  from  them. 
Further  up  the  river,  one  band  of  these  people  ven- 
tured to  shoot  their  poisoned  arrows  at  the  explorers, 
but  a  discharge  of  musketry  immediately  scattered 
them.  Finally,  on  the  26th  of  September,  having 
reached  a  point  156  miles  from  the  sea,  Livingstone 
found  the  stream  so  narrow,  shallow  and  rapid,  that  it 
was  impossible  for  him  to  advance  further.  The 
natives  informed  him  that  he  was  about  30  miles  from 
a  large  village  called  Ngomans,  whence  it  was  a  land 
journey  of  twelve  days  to  Lake  Nyassa. 

The  party  returned  down  the  river,  re-embarked 
on  the  steamer,  and  after  touching  at  the  Portuguese 
town  Quillimane,  arrived  at  Shupanga,  on  the  Zambesi, 
in  December.  His  object,  now  was  to  transport  the 
Lady  Nyassa  above  the  cataracts  of  the  Shire,  and 
undertake  the  complete  exploration  of  the  Nyassa  lake. 
On  entering  the  Shire  River,  he  found  everywhere  the 
marks  of  death  and  desolation.  The  same  half-breed, 
whose  battle  with  the  Portuguese  he  had  witnessed  at 
Mazaro,  on  his  arrival  in  1858,  had  overrun  the  country, 
6lain,  burned  and  plundered,  until  the  once  populous 
land  had  become  a  waste.  In  March,  1863,  while  the 
eteamer  was  stayed  on  a  sand-bank   Livingstone  was 


298  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

joined  by  Mr.  Thornton,  who  had  left  him  five  yean 
before,  to  undertake  the  journey  to  Kilimandjaro  with 
Baron  Van  der  Decken.  He  again  offered  his  services, 
as  geologist,  but  having,  undertaken  to  convey  provi- 
sions to  the  few  remaining  missionaries  in  the  Shire 
country,  he  succumbed  to  the  hardships  of  the  journey, 
and  died  in  April. 

Many  of  the  native  attendants  had  also  died,  and 
Dr.  Kirk  and  Charles  Livingstone  were  also  so  reduced 
by  fever  that  on  the  19th  of  May  they  left  the  chief  of 
the  expedition,  and  returned  to  England.  In  the 
meantime,  news  of  the  failure  of  the  Universities'  Mis- 
sion had  reached  England;  the  part  which  Bishop 
Mackenzie  had  taken  in  the  native  wars  gave  offence 
to  the  Government,  and  on  the  2d  of  July  Livingstone 
received  an  order  to  return.  Before  obeying,  however, 
he  determined  to  make  one  final  effort  to  explore  Lake 
Nyassa  and  the  country  surrounding  it. 

lie  set  out,  with  a  much  smaller  party  than  before, 
and  took  a  course  northwards,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Shire,  and  at  some  distance  from  the  stream.  This  led 
to  the  discovery  of  a  range  of  bare  granite  peaks,  rising 
to  a  height  of  5,000  feet  above  the  sea,  running  parallel 
with  the  river.  Following  this  range  he  came  into  the 
valley  of  Gova,  which  gently  descends  towards  the 
Bouth-western  arm  of  Lake  Nyassa.  The  country  was 
well  cultivated,  and  no  serious  difficulties  were  encoi  n- 
tered  from  the  inhabitants.  Their  greatest  fear  seemed 
to  be  concerning  tlie  "Mazitu,"  or  Arab  slave-traders, 
who,  they  related,  built  broad,  flat  boats  in  a  bay 
toward  the  northern  end  of  the  lake,  for  the  purpose 
of  transporting  their  captives  to  the  opposite  side. 


EXPEDITION  TO  LAKE  NYASSA.  299 

Livingstone  followed  the  western  shore  as  far  as 
this  bay,  which  he  reached  about  the  middle  of  Sep- 
tember. He  then  turned  inland,  striking  westward 
in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  travel  entirely  around 
the  lake,  at  a  short  distance  from  it.  Ascending  a 
mountain  called  Ndonda,  which  was  3,440  feet  high, 
he  came  upon  a  broad  scantily-watered  table-land, 
where  the  air  was  so  sharp  and  cool,  that  although  to 
himself  it  gave  new  life,  his  native  attendants  fell  sick, 
and  one  of  them  died.  For  three  or  four  days  more 
he  pushed  onward,  and  only  turned  about  when  com- 
pelled by  the  sufferings  of  his  men  and  the  want  of 
nourishing  food.  He  was  upon  the  high-road  from 
Lake  Nyassa  to  Cazembe,  the  capital  of  the  Londa 
country — the  "  Moluwa"  of  Magyar. 

He  returned  by  a  more  southerly  route,  striking 
the  lake  at  a  point  about  30  miles  south  of  that  where 
he  had  left.  He  reached  the  steamer  in  November, 
after  a  journey  of  nearly  700  miles,  and  after  resting 
from  his  hardships,  and  waiting  for  the  rains,  left  the 
Shire  towards  the  end  of  January,  1864.  In  a  month 
he  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi,  where  his  little 
steamer  was  taken  in  tow  by  an  English  man-of-war, 
and  carried  to  Zanzibar.  From  the  latter  port  he  re- 
turned to  England  by  way  of  Bombay. 

This  expedition  occupied  nearly  six  years  of  time, 
and — in  connection  with  the  Universities'  Mission — 
cost  some  valuable  lives.  The  English  Government 
seems  to  have  been  disappointed  in  its  results,  which, 
nevertheless,  are  of  sufficient  importance,  when  we 
consider  what  was  accomplished  for  geographical 
and   natural   science.     The   suppression   of  the  slave- 


300  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

trade,  the  Christianization  of  the  native  tribes,  and 
the  substitution  of  English  for  Portuguese  and  Arab 
commercial  interests  require  a  much  longer  period  of 
time.  Had  Dr.  Livingstone's  task  been  limited  to 
exploration,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  done  much 
more ;  and  his  subsequent  history  is  the  proof  that, 
in  this  respect,  he  was  far  from  being  satisfied. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Livingstone's  last  journey. 

IN  the  preface  to  his  last  work,  "Narrative  of  an 
Expedition  to  the  Zambesi  and  its  Tributaries," 
written  in  April,  1865,  Livingstone  announces  his  in- 
tention of  starting  upon  a  new  journey  of  exploration. 

He  says :  "  I  propose  to  go  inland,  north  of  the  ter- 
ritory which  the  Portuguese  in  Europe  claim,  and  en- 
deavor to  commence  that  system  on  the  east  which  has 
been  so  successful  on  the  west  coast.  ...  I  hope  to 
ascend  the  Rovuma,  or  some  other  river  north  of  Cape 
Delgado,  and,  in  addition  to  my  other  work,  shall 
strive,  by  passing  along  the  northern  end  of  Lake  Ny- 
assa,  and  round  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Tagnanyika, 
to  ascertain  the  water-shed  of  that  part  of  Africa.  In 
so  doing,  I  have  no  wish  to  unsettle  what  with  so  much 
toil  and  danger  was  accomplished  by  Speke  and  Grant, 
but  rather  to  confirm  their  illustrious  disco veries.,, 

In  order  to  carry  out  this  new  design,  Livingstone 
was  obliged  to  depend  upon  narrower  means  and  ar- 
range his  plans  in  a  simpler  manner.  The  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society  contributed  £500,  the  English  Gov- 
ernment an  equal  amount,  and  a  friend  whose  name  is 
not  mentioned,  £1,000.  Livingstone  was  appointed 
Consul  for  Central  Africa,  with  power  to  make  treaties 
with  the  native  tribes,  and  an  annual  salary  of  £500. 
Thus  the  means  for  a  small  yet  sufficiently  appointed 


3  02  TRA  VELS  IN  so  u rn  A  FRICA* 

expedition  were  procured.  The  importance  of  the 
geographical  questions  to  be  solved  fully  justified  Liv- 
ingstone in  the  undertaking,  and  the  hopes  and  good 
wishes  of  the  principal  scientific  men  of  Europe  and 
America  accompanied  him  when  he  left  England,  to- 
wards the  close  of  the  year  1865. 

He  first  went  to  Bombay,  and  sailed  thence  for  Zan- 
zibar on  the  2nd  of  January,  1866.  On  his  arrival  at 
the  latter  port  he  procured  boats  for  the  navigation  of 
the  Rovuma  River,  and  several  camels  for  the  land  jour- 
ney thence  to  Lake  Nyassa.  His  attendants  were 
chiefly  natives  of  Johanna,  one  of  the  Comoro  Islands, 
and  Mahometans.  On  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Rovu- 
ma, it  was  found  that  the  paths  through  the  mangrove 
swamps  were  impracticable  for  camels,  whereupon  the 
boats  were  compelled  to  go  some  distance  up  the  river. 
About  25  miles  from  the  sea  a  good  landing-place  was 
found:  the  expedition  was  here  organized,  and  pro- 
ceeded up  the  southern  bank  of  the  river  to  the  mouth 
of  a  large  affluent  called  the  Loendi,  30  miles  further 
than  the  point  reached  by  Livingstone  in  1862. 

There  at  the  village  of  Ngomano,  he  was  so  well  re- 
ceived by  the  chief,  that  he  determined  to  remain  until 
the  best  route  to  Lake  Nyassa  should  be  ascertained. 
The  Rovuma  valley  is  here  bordered  by  ranges  of  hills 
from  four  to  six  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  covered 
with  dense  thickets.  The  Makonda  people  were  in- 
dustrious, and  helpful  in  opening  a  way  for  the  party. 

In  June  or  July,  Livingstone  started  with  his  Jo- 
hanna servants,  and  reached  the  eastern  shore  of  Lake 
IS'y.i>>;i,  probably  near  its  northern  extremity.  It 
seems,  however,  that  he  was  unable  to  find  a  boat  tc 


LIVINGSTONE  'S  LAST  JO URNE  Y.  303 

transport  his  party  across  to  the  western  shore,  and 
was  compelled  to  make  a  long  journey  around  the 
southern  end  of  the  lake,  and  up  the  western  side, 
over  the  same  ground  which  he  had  traversed  in  1861 
and  '63. 

The  next  information  received  of  his  fortunes 
reached  Zanzibar  in  March,  1867,  and  came  from  some 
of  the  Johanna  men,  who,  with  their  leader,  Moussa, 
returned  to  the  coast,  and  related  a  story  which  for  a 
time  was  believed.  They  stated  that  Livingstone  had 
crossed  the  lake,  reached  a  place  called  Kampunda, 
and  pushed  on  in  to  a  region  infested  by  the  hostile 
Mazitus.  Here,  while  they  were  in  the  rear,  resting 
with  the  baggage,  the  traveller  and  his  servants  were 
suddenly  attacked  by  an  ambushed  party.  Living- 
stone fired  and  killed  three  of  the  enemy ;  but  some 
of  the  others,  under  cover  of  the  powder-smoke,  ap- 
proached him  from  behind,  and  killed  him  with  the 
blow  of  an  axe  on  his  head.  The  Johanna  men  hid 
themselves  in  the  bushes,  and  werenot  seen.  The 
next  day  they  returned  to  the  spot,  found  the  bodies 
of  Livingstone  and  four  of  his  attendants,  which  they 
buried,  and  then  made  their  way  back  to  Kampunda, 
where  they  arrived  in  fourteen  days.  Here  they 
waited  until  a  caravan  offered  them  the  opportunity 
of  reaching  the  coast.  When  this  news  was  brought 
to  Zanzibar,  all  the  flags  were  lowered,  and  there  was 
a  universal  sorrow  for  the  supposed  loss  of  the  intrepid 
explorer. 

Some  few,  h.owever, — and  chief  among  them  Sir 
Roderick  Murchison,  President  of  the  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society, — refused  to  believe  the  story.     At 


304  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA, 

his  instigation,  it  was  determined  to  send  out  an  ex 
pedition  to  ascertain,  at  least,  whether  there  was  any 
foundation  for  it.  Mr.  Young,  who  had  commanded 
Livingstone's  steamer,  the  Pioneer,  was  appointed;  a 
small  iron  boat,  in  sections,  was  built  and  sent  to  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  by  the  27th  of  July,  1867, 
the  expedition  had  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi. 
On  arriving  at  the  village  of  Shibisa,  where  Young 
was  recognized  and  cordially  welcomed,  he  found  a 
very  different  state  of  things.  The  Manganja  and 
Ajawa  tribes  had  become  friendly,  and  both  were  uni- 
ted in  a  common  cause  against  the  slave- robbing  Maz- 
itus,  who  were  coming  down  upon  them  from  the 
north.  Some  of  Livingstone's  Makololos  were  also 
at  the  place,  and  a  few  of  them  at  once  offered  their 
services  as  boatmen  and  guides. 

On  the  19th  of  August  Young  reached  the  Murch- 
ison  Cataracts,  where  his  boat  must  be  taken  to  pieces, 
and  every  piece,  together  with  all  the  supplies  of  the 
expedition,  transported  a  distance  of  60  miles,  to  the 
upper  valley  of  the  Shire.  On  account  of  the  ravages 
of  war,  he  experienced  the  greatest  difficulty,  not  only 
in  procuring  the  180  porters  who  were  required  for 
this  labor,  but  also  in  feeding  them  during  the  time. 
When  at  last,  with  great  difficulty,  150  men  were  gath- 
ered together,  the  bargaining  in  regard  to  pay,  which 
must  be  separately  repeated  with  each,  seemed  as  if  it 
would  never  come  to  an  end.  Young  was  obliged  t<  i 
ercise  the  greatest  skill  and  patience,  in  order  to  accom 
plish  his  purpose  without  losing  much  valuable  time. 

He  left  two  Kroomen  at  the  falls,  with  orders  to 
remain   there  until  the  15th  of  November,  when,  if 


LIVINGSTONE  'S  LAST  JO URNE  Y.  305 

they  should  hear  no  news  of  him,  they  were  to  descend 
the  Zambesi  and  communicate  with  the  English  frigate 
which  was  expected  off  the  mouth  of  that  river,  about 
the  1st  of  December.  In  case  his  own  return  should 
be  interrupted  by  the  Mazitus,  he  designed  to  make 
his  way  directly  from  the  lake  to  the  Eastern  coast. 

The  transport  of  the  boat,  in  spite  of  all  difficulties, 
was  successfully  accomplished,  and  while  the  sections 
were  being  put  together,  some  natives  brought  word 
that,  some  time  before,  a  white  man  had  passed  the 
Pamalombe  lake,  and  gone  on  in  a  westerly  direction. 
This  intelligence  was  puzzling  to  Young,  who,  suppos- 
ing that  Livingstone  had  gone  around  the  northern 
end  of  Lake  Nyassa,  did  not  suspect  that  he  was  actu- 
ally receiving  news  of  the  lost  traveller. 

On  the  31st  of  August  he  started  in  the  boat,  but 
was  much  annoyed  by  the  Makololos,  who  were  not 
only  bad  oarsmen,  but  became  so  excited  by  the  ru- 
mors of  the  fierce  Mazitus,  that  they  were  anxious  to 
return.  Young,  however,  pushed  on  with  them,  and, 
on  approaching  the  Pamalombe  lake,  again  heard  of 
the  recent  visit  of  the  white  man,  with  the  additional 
information  that  he  was  not  an  Arab,  but  an  English- 
man.  Now,  for  the  first  time,  he  began  to  suspect 
that  this  might  be  Livingstone.  With  full  sails  the 
boat  sped  through  the  smaller  lake,  traversed  the  brief 
additional  reach  of  the  Shire  River,  and  on  the  6th  of 
September  entered  Lake  Nyassa.  After  resting  for  a 
night  on  an  island,  where  they  were  safe  from  the 
curiosity  or  hostility  of  the  natives,  Young  sailed 
across  to  the  eastern  shore,  which  had  not  been 
visited  before,  during  the  previous  expeditions. 
20 


306  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA, 

By  a  wonderful  chance,  he  received  news  of  Living 
stone  at  the  very  first  village  where  he  landed.  A 
single  native  stood  on  the  shore,  and  showed  the 
greatest  astonishment  and  terror  at  the  approach  of 
the  strange  boat:  but  when  Young  addressed  him, 
and  explained  that  he  was  an  Englishman,  all  his 
fear  vanished  and  he  answered :  "  The  English  are 
good  people."  When  asked  why  he  said  so,  he  de- 
cl  ired  that  an  Englishman  had  passed  through  the 
villages  along  the  lake,  and  had  given  many  presents 
to  the  people.  Young  then  questioned  him  more 
closely,  and  soon  became  convinced  that  he  wasinde.d 
on  the  track  of  Livingstone. 

The  man  stated  that  he  lived  at  an  Arab  settle- 
ment, in  the  neighborhood.  Young  immediately 
went  to  the  place,  and  announced  himself  as  an 
Englishman,  whereupon  the  people  clapped  their 
hands  and  cried :  "  That  is  good ! "  The  chief 
asked  him  whether  he  knew  the  Englishman  who 
had  passed  by  there  during  the  previous  cold  season. 
Then  followed  a  long  examination:  the  people  an- 
swered Young's  questions  without  hesitation,  not  only 
minutely  describing  Livingstone's  personal  appearance, 
and  his  method  of  taking  astronomical  observations, 
but  mentioning  the  names  of  two  boys,  Chuma  ana 
Wako,  whom  he  had  taken  along  for  servants.  They 
also  stated  that  the  chief  of  his  porters  was  a  stout 
man  called  Moussa.  They  informed  Young  that  the 
Englishman  wanted  to  cross  Lake  Nyassa,  but,  not 
being  able  to  find  a  boat,  had  gone  southward  to  a 
village  near  the  Pamalombe  lake. 

The    details   of    Livingstone's    journey   inert 


LIVINGSTONE 'S  LAST  JO URNE  Y.  307 

rapidly,  and  the  evidences  of  his  having  passed  around 
the  lake  became  more  certain.  The  natives  picked 
out  his  photograph  from  a  collection  of  fifty,  they 
brought  small  articles  which  he  had  given  away,  and 
marked  out  several  of  his  days'  journeys,  showing  the 
places  where  he  had  rested  or  slept.  A  company  of 
Makololos,  sent  out  to  follow  his  route  towards  the 
Eovuma,  found  no  difficulty  in  doing  so,  until  they 
were  prevented  from  going  further  by  reports  of  war 
between  the  tribes.  By  this  time  a  large  number  of 
natives  were  collected,  and,  as  many  of  them  were 
armed  with  fire-arms,  Young  judged  it  prudent  to 
sleep  on  board  his  boat,  and  to  keep  her  at  a  safe  dis- 
tance from  the  shore. 

Having  learned  all  that  could  be  ascertained  on 
the  eastern  side,  he  crossed  to  a  place  called  Chin- 
samba,  on  the  western  side,  about  fifty  miles  from  the 
southern  end  of  the  lake.  Here  he  heard  the  same 
story :  a  white  man  had  been  in  the  village  of 
Marenga,  and  had  gone  on,  in  a  westerly  direction. 
He  also  found  porters,  who  had  assisted  in  carrying 
the  white  man's  baggage,  but  no  one  had  heard  of  a 
murder,  or  even  of  an  attack.  Yet  he  was  now  very 
near  the  point,  where,  according  to  the  accounts  of  the 
Johanna  men,  Livingstone  had  been  slain.  The  people 
stated,  moreover,  that  he  only  had  seven  attendants 
with  him :  so  the  treacherous  bearers  of  the  evil 
tidings  must  have  already  deserted  him. 

Young's  next  movement  was  to  the  village  of 
Marenga,  where  he  was  heartily  welcomed  by  the 
chief,  who  immediately  asked  after  Livingstone.  Ho 
voluntarily  related  that  the  latter  had  visited  him,  had 


308  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

been  carried  in  his  boat  further  up  the  lake,  while  the 
Johanna  porters  went  on  by  land.  Two  days  after- 
wards he  was  surprised  by  the  return  of  the  latter,  who 
declared  that  they  were  going  home.  Livingstone, 
however,  had  quietly  continued  his  journey  inland 
towards  the  north-west,  and  the  chief  produced  several 
porters  who  had  accompanied  him  a  part  of  the  way. 
All  doubt  was-  now  dispelled ;  both  Livingstone's 
safety  and  his  success  up  to  this  point  were  estab- 
lished, and  there  seemed  better  grounds  than  ever  for 
hoping  that  he  would  finally  carry  out  his  great  under- 
taking. 

After  several  days  of  festivity  in  Marenga's  village, 
Young  started  on  his  return  on  the  20th  of  September. 
He  doubled  Cape  Maclear,  which  divides  the  two 
southern  arms  of  the  lake,  rising  2,000  feet  above  the 
water,  and  then  sailed  to  Mapunda,  where  the  Shires 
issues  from  Lake  Nyassa.  Here  he  learned  that  Liv- 
ingstone's boy,  Wako,  had  been  left,  on  account  of  an 
injury  to  his  leg,  which  afterwards  healed.  The  boy 
was  then  absent,  but  the  natives  showed  Young  a  book 
in  which  he  had  written  his  name.  Young  left  a  let- 
ter for  him,  and  then  commenced  the  descent  of  the 
Shire. 

On  reaching  the  commencement  of  the  rapids, 
where  it  was  necessary  to  take  the  boat  to  pieces,  there 
were  no  natives  to  be  seen.  The  party  were  suffering 
from  hunger,  and  in  the  desolated  and  depopulated 
region  around,  no  supplies  wore  to  be  had.  A  dead 
hippopotamus  which  came  floating  down  the  stream 
was  seized  and  eagerly  de  von  red  by  the  natives.  How- 
ever, when  the  arrival  of  the  party  became  known,  150 


LIVINGSTONE 'S  LA  ST  JO  URNE  Y.  3Q9 

men  soon  appeared,  eager  to  be  employed  in  carrying 
the  pieces  of  the  boat  to  the  lower  river.  With  a  heat 
of  110°  in  the  shade,  when  the  iron  sections  scorched 
the  hand  which  touched  them,  these  men  made  the 
transport  of  sixty  miles  in  four  days  and  a  half.  They 
were  to  be  paid  from  the  supplies  of  cotton  goods 
which  had  been  left  below  the  rapids,  but  the  men 
who  had  these  in  charge  had  neglected  to  protect  them 
from  the  water,  and  they  were  nearly  all  rotten. 
Young,  nevertheless,  succeeded  in  satisfying  the 
natives  :  he  then  reconstructed  the  boat,  descended  the 
Shire  and  the  Zambesi,  and  on  the  1st  of  December 
was  picked  up  by  an  English  frigate.  In  four  months' 
time  he  had  made  the  journey  from  the  ocean  to  Lake 
Nyassa  and  back,  and  ascertained  the  truth  concerning 
Livingstone,  at  a  small  expense,  and  without  losing  a 
man. 

Not  long  afterwards,  some  Arab  merchants  brought 
news  to  Zanzibar,  from  which  it  appeared  that  Living- 
stone had  penetrated  the  unknown  regions  west  of  Lake 
Nyassa.  It  was  reported  that  he  had  crossed  the 
Loangwe  River,  a  large  northern  affluent  of  the  Zambe- 
si, which  drains  the  western  slope  of  the  great  table- 
land of  Maravi  (lying  west  of  Lake  Nyassa),  and  had 
entered  the  land  of  the  Babisa.  The  whole  country 
had  been  devastated  by  the  slave-hunters,  the  villages 
were  destroyed,  even  game  had  become  scarce,  and  the 
brave  explorer  had  suffered  much  from  hunger. 

After  some  months,  some  brief  and  fragmentary 
despatches  from  Livingstone  himself  reached  Zanzibar. 
He  had  arrived  in  a  country  called  Bamba,  or  Lobam- 
ba,  lying  nearly  midway  between  the  Nyassa  and  Tan- 


310  TRA  VEL  S  IN  SO  U  TH  A  FRICA . 

ganyika  Lakes,  in  February,  18G7.  Here  the  chief  re- 
ceived him  kindly,  and  he  remained  for  some  time  to 
rest  and  recruit  his  strength.  In  October  of  the  same 
year  he  reached  the  Marunga  country,  near  the  south- 
ern end  of  Tanganyika.  His  progress  was  greatly  de- 
layed by  the  exhaustion  of  his  stock  of  goods  and  med- 
icines, and  though  many  efforts  were  made  to  supply 
him  from  Zanzibar,  the  intermediate  region  is  always 
K  unsettled,  from  the  continual  wars  between  the 
tribes,  that  there  was  no  certainty  that  any  supplies 
had  reached  him. 

Early  in  1869  new  letters  for  Dr.  Kirk  and  Sir 
Roderick  Murchison  reached  the  coast,  and  gave  most 
welcome  if  scanty  news  of  Livingstone's  explorations. 
He  was  on  the  western  side  of  Lake  Tanganyika, 
anxiously  waiting  for  supplies,  and  still  determined  to 
carry  out  his  original  plan  of  pushing  onward  to 
the  Luta  N'zige  (Albert  Nyanza),  discovered  by  Baker. 
He  bad  suffered  a  great  deal  from  hunger,  exposure 
and  fever,  but  had  lost  none  of  his  courage  and  reso- 
lution. 

Since  then  we  have  received  frequent  reports  of  his 
situation  through  the  native  traders  who  now  and  then 
visit  Zanzibar,  but  nothing  direct  from  himself.  The' 
greater  part  of  the  intervening  period  between  1868 
and  1871  seems  to  have  been  spent  by  him  in  the  re- 
gions west  of  Lake  Tanganyika.  The  natives  report 
that  he  made  one  journey  of  three  hundred  miles  in 
that  direction,  but  they  say  nothing  of  journeys  to  the 
northward.  It  was  known,  in  1870,  that  supplies  for 
him  had  safely  reached  Ujiji,  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
the  lake,  and  nearly    opposite   his   temporary    home. 


LI VINGS TONE  S  LAST  JO URNE  Y.  31 1 

His  long  experience  of  the  native  African  tribes,  and 
his  wonderful  success  in  dealing  with  them,  diminish 
in  his  case  the  risks  to  which  every  traveller  must  be 
exposed,  and  those  who  know  him  best  have  been  most 
sanguine  of  his  final  return  to  the  world,  with  a  richer 
store  of  knowledge  than  any  traveller  has  yet  brought 
from  the  heart  of  Africa. 

In  1871  Mr.  Stanley  set  out  from  Zanzibar,  with 
the  intention  of  reaching  Livingstone,  and  towards  the 
close  of  the  year  the  sum  of  £5,000  was  raised  in  Eng- 
land to  fit  out  an  expedition,  which,  at  the  time  these 
lines  are  written  (March  1st,  1872),  is  on  its  way  to 
Africa.  The  latest  news  received  at  Zanzibar,  which 
has  an  air  of  authenticity,  and  seems  to  be  accepted 
as  reliable  by  Livingstone's  friends,  represents  him  as 
being  midway  between  Ujiji  and  Unyanyembe, — 
therefore  about  150  miles  east  of  lake  Tanganyika, — 
on  his  way  to  the  coast.  If  this  be  true,  and  no  mis- 
fortune comes  to  mar  the  close  of  the  most  daring 
and  important  journey  in  the  annals  of  exploration, 
he  may  be  expected  to  reach  England  during  the  sum- 
mer of  1872. 


POSTSCRIPT. 


OIX  months  have  passed  since  the  closing  para- 
graphs  of  the  last  chapter  were  written.  The 
belief  there  expressed  that  Livingston  was  still  alive 
has  been  happily  justified,  though  the  hope  that  he 
would  soon  return  to  tell  the  story  of  his  adventures 
has  not  been  fulfilled.  His  self-imposed  task  is  not 
yet  accomplished  :  a  space  of  perhaps  two  hundred 
miles  remains  to  be  explored  before  the  long  hidden 
secret  of  the  Nile  is  revealed,  and  he  will  not  return 
until  he  has  made  it  his  own.  The  story  of  his  dis- 
covery and  relief  by  Mr.  Stanley,  forms  one  of  the 
most  romantic  episodes  of  African  adventure,  not  less 
from  the  peculiar  character  of  the  expedition,  and  the 
boldness  of  its  conception,  than  the  personal  heroism, 
pluck,  and  persistence  manifested  in  its  execution,  and 
the  rare  good  fortune  with  which  it  was  rewarded. 

The  report  that  Livingston  was  pushing  eastward 
from  Ujiji  toward  Unyanyembe,  proved  to  be  with- 
out foundation.  Mr.  Stanley  left  the  latter  place  late 
in  September,  1871,  and  early  in  the  following  No- 
vember, —  spite  of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars,  treacher- 
ous servants,  blackmailing  chiefs,  mountain  fever,  and 
all  the  other  obstacles  to  African  travel,  —  he  arrived 
at  Ujiji,  whither  Livingston  had  just  come  from  a 
tramp  of   more  than  four  hundred   miles  beneath  a 


POSTSCRIPT.  313 

vertical  tropical  sun,  "a  mere  ruckle  of  bones,"  to  use 
his  own  words,  "  dying  on  his  feet,"  "  baffled,  worried, 
and  defeated,"  having  been  turned  back  from  his  ex- 
ploration of  the  Manyema  country,  by  the  refusal  of 
his  cowardly  and  mutinous  servant  to  go  on.  The 
arrival  of  Mr.  Stanley  was  most  opportune.  The 
supplies  that  had  been  sent  by  the  English  Govern- 
ment to  Ujiji,  on  which  Livingston  depended  for  the 
prosecution  of  his  researches,  had  been  stolen  by  the 
agent  to  whom  they  had  been  intrusted  ;  and  the 
sorely  disappointed,  almost  disheartened  explorer, 
found  himself  at  Ujiji,  sixteen  days  before  Mr.  Stan- 
ley came,  travel- worn,  ill,  and  dejected,  and  reduced 
almost  to  beggary.  His  letters  to  the  coast  had  been 
so  often  destroyed  by  the  Arabs,  who  dreaded  any 
exposure  of  their  horrid  practices  in  obtaining  slaves, 
that  he  had  relinquished  all  hope  of  ever  obtaining 
help  from  Zanzibar,  and  had  determined,  when  he 
became  stronger,  "  to  work  his  way  down  to  Mteza  or 
Baker  for  help  and  men." 

But  assistance  came  when  least  expected.  A  vague 
rumor  had  reached  Ujiji,  shortly  before  his  arrival 
there,  that  an  Englishman  had  come  to  Unyanyembe 
with  boats,  horses,  men,  and  goods  in  abundance.  "  It 
was  in  vain,"  Dr.  Livingston  writes,  "to  conjecture 
who  this  could  be  ;  and  my  eager  inquiries  were  met 
by  answers  so  contradictory  that  I  began  to  doubt  if 
any  stranger  had  come  at  all.  But  one  day,  I  cannot 
say  which,  for  I  was  three  weeks  too  fast  in  my  reck- 
oning, my  man  Susi  came  dashing  up  in  great  excite- 
ment, and  gasped  out,  "  An  Englishman  coming  ;  see 
him  I  "  and  off  he  ran  to  meet  him.     The  American 


314  TRAVELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

flag  at  the  head  of  the  caravan  told  me  the  nationality 
of  the  stranger.  It  was  Henry  M.  Stanley,  the  trav- 
elling correspondent  of  the  New  York  Herald,  sent  by 
the  son  of  the  editor,  James  Gordon  Bennett,  Jr.,  at 
an  expense  of  £4,000,  to  obtain  correct  information 
about  me  if  living,  and  if  dead  to  bring  home  my 
bones.  The  kindness  was  extreme,  and  made  my 
whole  frame  thrill  with  excitement  and  gratitude." 

This  sudden  change  of  fortune  had  the  happiest 
effect  on  the  forlorn  explorer.  The  possession  of  sup- 
plies, the  strange  news  that  the  deliverer  had  to  tell 
of  the  events  of  the  past  six  years,  and  more  than  all 
the  assurance  that  he  was  neither  abandoned  nor  for- 
gotten by  his  friends  at  home,  brought  new  life  and 
strength  and  hope  to  him.  "  It  was,  indeed,  over- 
whelming "  he  wrote  to  the  proprietor  of  the  Herald, 
"  and  I  said  in  my  soul,  4  Let  the  richest  blessings 
descend  from  the  Highest  on  you  and  yours.'  ' 

As  stated  (page  302),  Dr.  Livingston  left  the  coast 
early  in  1866,  with  an  expedition  consisting  of  twelve 
Sepoys,  nine  Johanna  men,  seven  liberated  slaves,  and 
two  Zambezi  men,  with  six  camels,  three  buffaloes, 
two  mules,  and  three  donkeys.  The  Sepoys  armed 
with  Enfield  rifles  were  to  serve  as  guards.  The  ex- 
pedition pursued  a  difficult  route  up  the  left  bank  of 
the  Rovuma  River,  through  jungles  impenetrable  to 
the  camels.  The  way  had  to  be  hewn  out  with  axes, 
and  progress  was  constantly  retarded  by  the  unwil- 
lingness of  the  Sepoys  and  the  Johanna  men  to  work. 
The  Sepoys  were  rebellious  from  the  outset,  and  soon 
proved  themselves  utterly  worthless  as  an  escort.  To 
stop  the  advance  of  the  expedition,  they  maltreated 


POSTSCRIPT.  815 

the  animals,  so  that  in  a  few  days  not  one  remained 
alive.     Failing  to  gain  their  end  in  this  way,  they  be 
gan  to  tamper  with  the  natives,  setting  them  against 
their  commander  by  false  reports  of  strange  practices 
on  his  part. 

Finding  the  Sepoys  useless  as  guards  and  dangerous 
as  members  of  the  expedition,  Livingston  paid  them 
their  wages,  and  sent  them  back  to  the  coast.  With 
his  diminished  company  he  pushed  on  through  an 
uninhabited  wilderness,  suffering  much  from  hunger 
and  desertion,  until  he  reached  a  village  belonging 
to  a  Mahiya  chief,  eight  days'  march  south  of  the 
Rovuma,  and  overlooking  the  watershed  of  Lake 
Nyassa.  Two  of  the  liberated  slaves  deserted  while 
on  the  road  to  Mponda's  country,  near  the  lake,  where 
he  arrived  early  in  August.  At  this  point  his  un- 
grateful 'protege  Wakotani  demanded  his  discharge, 
falsely  alleging  that  he  had  found  a  sister  in  Mponda's 
favorite  wife,  that  his  "  big  brother  "  lived  near  there, 
and  that  his  family  lived  across  the  lake.  Though 
convinced  that  these  stories  were  untrue,  Livingston 
released  him,  and  pushed  on  to  the  lake,  to  minister 
to  a  Babisa  chief  who  required  medicine  for  a  skin 
disease.  While  at  the  village  of  this  chief  a  half-caste 
Arab  arrived  from  the  western  shore  of  the  lake,  and 
reported  that  he  had  been  plundered  by  a  band  of 
Mazitus,  at  a  place  which  Livingston  knew  to  be  a 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant,  north-northwest. 
Musa,  the  chief  of  the  Johanna  men,  was  equally  well 
aware  of  the  absence  of  danger,  yet  the  Arab's  story 
afforded  a  pretext  for  refusing  to  proceed,  and  he 
made  the  most  of  it.     Livingston  endeavored  to  com- 


316        TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

promise  the  matter  by  promising  to  go  due  west  be 
yond  the  range  of  the  Mazitus,  but  it  was  of  no  use : 
the  Johanna  men  ran  away  in  a  body,  returned  to  the 
coast,  as  already  noticed,  and  deceived  the  majority 
of  Livingston's  admirers  by  their  lying  story  of  his 
death. 

Fortunately  Livingston  was  now  in  a  country  that 
had  never  been  cursed  by  slave  hunters,  and  the  peo- 
ple were,  —  as  he  always  found  them  in  such  cases,  — 
kind  and  hospitable.  For  small  payments  of  cloth 
and  beads  they  carried  his  baggage  from  village  to 
village,  and  gave  him  other  assistance  which  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  proceed  with  his  meagre  force. 
But  this  could  not  last  always.  Toward  the  close  of 
1866,  the  limit  of  this  kindly  region  was  reached,  and 
the  expedition  entered  upon  a  country  that  had  been 
devastated  by  marauding  Mazitus.  The  land  was 
stripped  of  provisions  and  cattle,  and  the  inhabitants 
had  migrated  beyond  the  reach  of  their  ferocious  ene- 
mies. Here  the  expedition  was  reduced  to  great  ex- 
tremity, plagued  by  famine  and  lessened  by  desertion. 
Robbed  of  his  personal  baggage,  which  his  unfaithful 
servants  had  made  off  with,  beset  by  dangers  and  dis- 
tresses, yet  undaunted  in  spirit,  the  explorer  pushed 
on  through  the  countries  of  the  Babisi,  the  Bobemba, 
the  Barungu,  and  the  Baulungu,  into  Londa,  the 
dominion  of  prince  Cazembe,  first  made  known  to 
Europeans  by  the  Portuguese  traveller,  Dr.  Lacerda. 
Here  Livingston  met  with  a  kind  reception,  and  waa 
freely  granted  permission  to  pursue  his  search  for 
M  great  waters." 

The  reports  of  the  next  two  years'  exploration  are 


POSTSCRIPT.  317 

of  the  briefest  character,  though  the  results  of  them 
are  unsurpassed  in  the  history  of  African  adventure. 

Just  before  he  arrived  at  Cazembe's,  Livingston 
crossed  an  important  stream  called  the  Chambezi. 
All  the  Portuguese  explorers  who  had  preceded  him 
had  described  the  river  as  the  Zambezi.  Misled  by 
the  similarity  of  the  name,  and  trusting  too  much  to 
the  Portuguese  authorities,  Livingston  assumed  it  to 
be  the  head  stream  of  the  river  he  had  already  ex- 
plored, and  paid  no  attention  to  it.  This  error  cost 
him  many  months  of  tedious  labor  and  travel.  Find- 
ing as  he  proceeded  the  books  and  maps  of  the  Portu- 
guese seriously  at  variance  with  his  observations,  he 
retraced  his  steps,  traversed  and  retraversed  the  broad 
region  watered  by  the  numerous  branches  of  the 
Chambezi,  until  he  was  convinced  that  it  marked  a 
new  and  hitherto  unsuspected  line  of  drainage  sloping 
northward. 

In  the  course  of  his  researches  he  came  upon  a  lake, 
northeast  of  Cazembe's,  called  the  Liemba,  from  the 
country  bordering  it  on  the  east  and  south.  Follow- 
ing this  lake  northward  he  found  it  to  be  no  other 
than  Tanganyika,  whose  southern  extremity  reaches 
to  a  latitude  about  9°  south.  This  great  lake  extends 
north  and  south,  a  distance  of  three  hundred  and  sixty 
geographical  miles,  and  has  an  outline  very  much  like 
that  of  Italy. 

Livingston  next  pushed  his  explorations  ^  estward, 
crossing  the  Marungu  country  with  great  difficulty, 
and  almost  at  the  cost  of  his  life,  until  he  came  to  a 
large  lake,  Moero  by  name,  shut  in  by  lofty  moun- 
tains.    Its  surplus  waters  he  found  to  escape  toward 


318  TRAVELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

the  north  through  a  deep  rent  in  the  mountains,  pour- 
ing an  impetuous  torrent  through  the  chasm  with  the 
roar  of  a  cataract.  From  the  south  it  receives  the 
waters  of  a  broad  river,  the  Luapula,  which  Living- 
ston ascended  along  a  tortuous  course  until  he  found 
it  to  be  the  outlet  of  a  still  larger  lake  which  the  na- 
tives called  Bangwelo.  The  largest  of  the  many 
feeders  to  this  lake  proved  to  be  the  Chambezi,  which 
Livingston  ascended  to  the  country  of  King  Cazembe. 
Evidently  this  grand  river,  whose  northward  course 
Livingston  had  traced  under  changing  appellations 
through  three  degrees  of  latitude,  could  have  no  con- 
nection with  the  Zambezi.     Where  did  it  flow  ? 

The  most  intelligent  natives  and  traders  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  Chambezi  valley  thought  that  the 
rivers  of  that  region  ran  into  Tanganyika.  But  to  do 
that  they  must  run  up  hill,  as  the  deep  trough  of  the 
valley  into  which  the  waters  of  all  the  great  rivers 
and  lakes  converged,  lay  a  full  thousand  feet  lower 
than  the  Upper  Tanganyika.  Was  the  Chambezi  the 
head  stream  of  the  Nile  ?  So  Livingston  strongly 
suspected,  but  he  could  not  be  certain  until  he  had 
followed  its  waters  through  the  unknown  region  north 
of  the  great  lakes  he  had  discovered.  That  was  the 
next  task  he  set  himself  to  do. 

Instead  of  retracing  his  course  down  the  river,  Liv- 
ingston, for  reasons  which  he  has  not  explained,  struck 
across  the  country  northward  to  Ujiji,  harassed  al- 
most to  death  by  his  miserable  attendants,  who,  under 
the  corrupting  influence  of  an  ungrateful  Arab,  ma;le 
the  long  and  painful  journey  a  period  of  peculiar  and 
exasperating  misery.     While  at  Ujiji,  in  the  summer 


POSTSCRIPT.  319 

of  1869,  he  wrote  the  letters  mentioned  on  page  810, 
and  others  which  the  Arab  traders  treacherously  de- 
stroyed, lest  they  should  expose  their  iniquitous  pro- 
ceedings in  connection  with  the  slave  trade. 

As  soon  as  he  was  strong  enough  to  travel,  Living- 
ston descended  the  Tanganyika  about  sixty  miles, 
crossed  over  to  Uguhha,  on  the  western  shore,  and  set 
off  northwestward  through  the  Manyema  country, 
intending  to  strike  the  river  flowing  out  of  Lake  Mo- 
ero,  and  then  follow  down  the  central  line  of  drainage 
he  had  discovered.  At  first  he  was  able  to  travel  but 
two  hours  a  day ;  but  by  persevering  he  gained 
strength,  and  in  July  he  came  up  with  the  trading 
party  of  Muhamad  Bogharib,  who  by  native  medi- 
cines and  carriage  had  saved  his  life  when  prostrated 
by  a  severe  attack  of  pneumonia  in  the  Marungu 
country.  With  this  company  he  journeyed  into  the 
interior,  descending  the  Luamo,  a  river  from  one  to 
two  hundred  yards  wide,  rising  in  the  mountains  op- 
posite Ujiji,  and  flowing  westward.  Approaching  its 
confluence  with  the  Lualaba  —  the  outlet  of  Lake 
Moero  —  he  found  himself  among  a  people  who  had 
lately  been  maltreated  by  a  company  of  ivory  hunters. 
The  feeling  against  all  strangers  was  very  strong,  es- 
pecially among  the  women.  The  worst  the  men  did 
was  to  turn  out  in  force,  fully  armed,  and  escort  the 
party  out  of  their  district.  Glad  that  no  collision  had 
taken  place,  Livingston  returned  to  a  place  called 
Bambarre,  about  150  miles  west  of  Ujiji,  and,  in  com- 
pany with  his  friend  Muhamad,  struck  away  due 
north,  Muhamad  to  buy  ivory,  Livingston  to  reach 
another  part  of  the  Lualaba  and  buy  a  canoe.     The 


320  TRAVELS    rjv  SOUTH  AFRICA, 

country  was  extremely  beautiful  but  difficult  to  pene- 
trate. Mountains  of  light  gray  granite  stood  like 
islands  in  new  red  sandstone,  both  mountains  and  val- 
leys clad  in  a  mantle  of  varied  green.  Vegetation 
was  indescribably  rank.  The  dense  spiry  grass,  with 
stalks  half  an  inch  in  diameter  and  twelve  feet  high, 
was  impassible  to  everything  except  elephants;  and 
while  the  party  wormed  their  way  along  the  elephant 
walks,  the  rough  edges  of  the  grass  tore  their  faces 
and  rasped  the  skin  from  their  hands.  In  November 
heavy  rains  set  in,  making  the  difficult  travelling  all 
the  harder  by  deepening  the  mud.  In  many  cases 
the  heavy  weight  of  the  elephants  had  broken  through 
the  subsoil,  making  deep  mud  holes  into  which  the 
travellers  would  slump  up  to  their  waists,  or  bury 
themselves,  ivory  and  all.  The  valleys  were  deeply 
undulating,  and  in  the  bottoms  of  each  innumerable 
small  streams  had  to  be  crossed,  and  though  there 
might  be  only  a  thread  of  water,  the  mire  was  "  griev- 
ous." 

"  Some  of  the  numerous  rivers  which  in  this  region 
flow  into  Lualaba  are  covered  with  living  vegetable 
bridges  —  a  species  of  dark,  glossy-leaved  grass,  which 
with  its  roots  and  leaves,  felts  itself  into  a  mat  that 
covers  the  whole  stream.  When  stepped  upon  it  yields 
twelve  or  fifteen  inches,  and  that  amount  of  water 
rises  up  on  the  leg.  At  every  step  the  foot  has  to  be 
i-aisod  high  enough  to  place  it  on  the  unbent  mass  in 
trout.  This  high  stepping  fatigues  like  walking  on 
deep  snow.  Here  and  there  holes  appear  which  we 
could  not  sound  with  a  stick  six  feet  long  ;  they  gave 
the   impression    that    anywhere    one    might    plump 


POSTSCRIPT.  821 

through  and  finish  the  chapter.  Where  the  water  is 
shallow,  the  lotus,  or  sacred  lily,  sends  its  roots  to  the 
bottom,  and  spreads  its  broad  leaves  over  the  floating 
bridge  so  as  to  make  believe  that  them  at  is  its  own  ; 
but  the  grass  referred  to  is  the  real  felting  and  sup- 
porting agent,  for  it  often  performs  duty  as  bridge 
where  no  lilies  grow.  The  bridge  is  called  by  Many- 
ema  "kintefwetefwe,"  as  if  he  who  first  coined  it 
was  gasping  for  breath  after  plunging  over  a  mile  of 
it." 

Everywhere  in  this  primeval  wilderness  the  accu- 
mulated ivory  of  ages  lay  rotting  on  the  ground,  and 
the  unsophisticated  natives  were  willing  to  collect  it 
for  nominal  payments  of  beads  and  copper  bracelets. 
News  of  such  abundance  of  cheap  ivory  no  sooner 
reached  Ujiji  than  a  "  rush  "  set  in  for  the  Manyema 
country,  and  Livingston  was  soon  overtaken  by  a 
horde  numbering  six  hundred  muskets,  every  man 
eager  for  the  precious  tusks.  Unwilling  to  bear  the 
new-comers'  company,  and  suffering  from  the  effects 
of  bad  water  and  frequent  wetting,  the  explorer  re- 
turned seven  days'  journey  southwest  to  a  camp 
formed  by  the  head  men  of  the  ivory  traders,  and  on 
the  7th  of  February  went  into  winter  quarters.  He 
had  no  medicine,  but  rest,  shelter,  boiling  all  the 
water  he  used,  and  a  new  potato  found  among  the 
natives,  served  as  restoratives,  and  he  soon  regained 
his  health.  The  rains  continued  into  July  ;  fifty-two 
inches  fell,  and  the  mud  from  the  clayey  soil  was 
awful,  exhausting  the  strongest  men  notwithstanding 
their  intense  eagerness  for  ivory. 

As  soon  as  it  was  possible  to  travel,  Livingston  lost 

21 


322  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

no  time  in  preparing  to  follow  the  river ;  but  his  at- 
tendants preferred  the  easy  life  of  the  camp,  where 
they  were  fed  and  lodged  by  the  slave  women  whose 
husbands  were  away  in  search  of  ivory.  At  first  they 
pretended  to  fear  going  into  a  canoe.  Livingston  con- 
sented to  go  without  one.  Then  they  pretended  to 
fear  the  people,  though  the  inhabitants  along  the  Lua- 
laba  were  reported  by  the  slaves  to  be  remarkably 
friendly.  Elsewhere  he  could  employ  the  country 
people  as  earners,  and  was  comparatively  independent 
though  deserted  by  his  attendants.  But  in  Manyema 
no  one  could  be  induced  to  go  into  the  next  district 
for  fear  of  being  killed  and  eaten.  He  was  at  the 
mercy  of  those  who  had  been  Moslem  slaves,  and  who 
knew  that  in  thwarting  him  they  had  the  sympathy 
of  all  the  Moslems  in  the  country,  and  they  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  situation.  With  only  three  attendants 
he  went  on  towards  the  northwest  in  ignorance  that, 
the  great  river  flowed  west  by  south  ;  and  there  was 
no  one  who  could  correct  his  mistake. 

Muhamad's  people  went  further  on  in  the  forest 
than  he  could,  and  came  to  the  mountainous  country 
of  the  Balegga,  who  collected  in  large  numbers,  and 
demanded  of  the  strangers  why  they  came.  "  We 
came  to  buy  ivory,"  was  the  reply,  "  and  if  you  have 
none  no  harm  is  done ;  we  shall  return.'*  "  Nay,*1 
they  shouted,  u  you  came  to  die,  and  this  day  is  your 
last ;  you  came  to  die  —  you  came  to  die."  When 
forced  to  fire  on  the  Balegga  their  terror  was  like 
their  insolence  —  extreme  ;  and  next  day,  when  sent 
for  to  take  away  the  women  and  children  who  were 
captured,  no  one  appeared. 


POSTSCRIPT.  323 

In  their  journeying  Muhamad's  party  crossed  many 
large  rivers.  One  was  so  tortuous  that  they  were  five 
hours  in  water,  waist,  and  sometimes  neck  deep,  with 
a  man  in  a  small  canoe  sounding  for  places  which  they 
could  pass.  In  another  case  they  were  two  hours  in 
the  water,  and  they  could  see  nothing  in  the  forest, 
and  nothing  in  the  Balegga  country  but  one  "  moun- 
tain packed  closely  to  the  back  of  another,  without 
end,  and  a  very  hot  fountain  in  one  of  the  valleys." 

Livingston  suffered  grievously  from  continual  wad- 
ing in  the  mud,  and  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  his 
feet  failed  him.  When  torn  by  travel,  instead  oi 
healing  kindly  as  heretofore,  they  were  afflicted  with 
irritable  eating  ulcers.  The  people,  however,  were 
civil  and  kind,  his  reputation  for  goodness  having  pre- 
ceded him  everywhere.  On  one  occasion  he  had  a 
striking  proof  of  their  confidence  in  him.  While  he 
was  sleeping  with  his  three  attendants  in  a  village,  a 
member  of  a  trading  party,  in  camp  close  by,  was 
pinned  to  the  ground  by  a  spear.  Nine  villages  had 
been  burned  and  at  least  forty  men  killed,  because  a 
Manyema  man  had  tried  to  steal  a  string  of  beads  ; 
and  the  midnight  assassination  was  in  revenge  for  the 
loss  of  friends  there.  It  was  evident  that  a  reaction 
against  the  bloody  slaving  had  set  in  ;  and  convinced 
by  the  accounts  given  by  Muhamad's  people  that 
nothing  would  be  gained  by  going  further  in  that  di- 
rection, Livingston,  now  very  lame,  limped  back  to 
Bambarre,  where  he  was  laid  up  many  months  with 
ulcers  on  his  feet.  These  distressing  ulcers  are  com- 
mon in  the  Manyema  country,  and  kill  many  slaves. 
If  the  foot  is  placed  on  the  ground  blood  flows,  and 


324  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

3very  night  a  discharge  of  bloody  ichor  takes  place, 
with  pain  that  prevents  sleep.  The  wailing  of  the 
poor  slaves  with  ulcers  that  eat  through  everything, 
even  bone,  is  one  of  the  night  sounds  of  a  slave  camp. 

In  this  horrid  place  Livingston  remained  from  Au- 
gust, 1870,  until  the  close  of  the  year,  prevented  by 
the  ulcers  from  setting  a  foot  on  the  ground. 

"  I  lived,"  he  writes  (1870),  "  in  what  may  be  called 
the  Tipperary  of  Manyema,  and  they  are  certainly  a 
bloody  people  among  themselves.  But  they  are  very 
far  from  being  in  appearance  like  the  ugly  negroes  on 
the  west  coast.  Finely  formed  heads  are  common, 
and  generally  the  men  and  women  are  vastly  superior 
to  the  slaves  of  Zanzibar  and  elsewhere.  We  must  go 
deeper  than  phrenology  to  account  for  their  low  moral 
tone.  If  they  are  cannibals  they  are  not  ostenta- 
tiously so.  The  neighboring  tribes  all  assert  that  they 
are  men-eaters,  and  they  themselves  laughingly  admit 
the  charge.  But  they  like  to  impose  on  the  credulous, 
and  they  showed  the  skull  of  a  recent  victim  to  hor- 
rify one  of  my  people.  I  found  it  to  be  the  skull  of 
a  gorilla,  or  soko  —  the  first  I  knew  of  its  existence 
here  —  and  this  they  do  eat." 

Satisfactory  progress  in  the  exploration  of  the  river 
could  be  made  only  in  canoes  with  men  accustomed  to 
work.  Livingston  tried  hard  to  get  such  men  from 
Ujiji  ;  but  all  the  traders  were  eager  to  secure  the 
carriers  for  themselves,  and  circulated  the  report  that 
lie  would  go  from  -Manyema  to  his  own  country  ami 
leave  the  men  to  shift  for  themselves.  He  offered  a 
thousand  dollars  to  some  traders  for  the  loan  of  ten 
of  their  people,  —  more  than  that  number  of  men  evrr 


POSTSCRIPT.  325 

obtained,  —  but  the  ivory  fever  was  so  high  that  none 
would  consent  to  his  proposition,  so  long  as  the  hope 
of  getting  ivory  remained. 

At  hist,  in  February,  1871,  seven  Banian  slaves  that 
had  been  dispatched  in  1869,  with  goods  for  his  re- 
lief, arrived  in  Bambarre  with  so  much  of  the  supplies 
as  had  not  been  plundered  on  the  way  from  the  coast : 
"  a  few  coarse  beads,  evidently  exchanged  for  my 
beautiful  and  dear  beads,"  Livingston  writes  with 
justifiable  bitterness,  "  a  little  calico,  and  in  great 
mercy,  some  of  my  coffee  and  sugar."  His  tent,  which 
they  had  used  all  the  way,  was  so  rotten  and  full  of 
holes  that  he  could  not  use  it.  "  They  had  been  six- 
teen months  on  the  way  from  Zanzibar  instead  of 
three,  and  now,  like  their  head  men,  refused  to  go 
any  further.  They  swore  so  positively  that  the  Con- 
sul had  told  them  to  force  me  back,  and  on  no  account 
to  go  forward,  that  I  actually  looked  again  at  their 
engagement,  to  be  sure  my  eyes  had  not  deceived  me. 
Fear  alone  made  them  consent  to  go ;  but  had  I  not 
been  aided  by  Muhamad  Bogharib,  they  would  have 
gained  their  point  by  sheer  brazen-faced  falsehood." 

How  the  unfortunate  explorer  was  baffled  and  wor- 
ried, and  finally  defeated  by  these  wretched  slaves, 
who  had  been  sent  him  contrary  to  his  express  orders 
to  send  none  but  free  men,  we  have  not  space  to  re- 
count :  they  were  one  of  the  bitterest  misfortunes  that 
he  has  had  to  contend  against.  His  medicines  had 
been  unaccountably  detained  by  the  Governor  of  Uny- 
anyembe  since  1868,  though  he  had  twice  sent  for 
them  with  calico  to  prepay  the  carriers.  He  suc- 
ceeded, however,  in  curing  the  ulcers  on  his  feet  with 


826  TRAVELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA, 

a  piece  of  malachite,  rubbed  down  with  water  on  a 
stone,  and  as  soon  as  he  could  travel  he  set  off  in  a 
northerly  direction  in  search  of  the  Lualaba.  Aftei 
several  days'  journey  he  found  the  river,  and  by  ex- 
ceeding pertinacity  he  contrived  to  follow  its  erratic 
course,  until  it  entered  a  lake  called  Kamolondo,  in 
about  6  deg.  30  min.  south.  Then  he  retraced  the 
river  southward  to  where  he  had  seen  it  issue  from 
Lake  Moero.  Descending  the  Lualaba  again  —  a 
broad  and  curiously  tortuous  stream  —  he  returned  to 
Lake  Kamolondo,  explored  it,  and  then  pushed  his 
investigations  down  the  stream,  which  issues  from  it. 
He  found  it  to  bear  the  same  name  below  as  above 
the  lake,  and  to  distinguish  the  upper  portion  he 
called  it  Webb's  Lualaba,  in  honor  of  one  of  his  oldest 
and  most  consistent  friends.  Away  to  southwest  of 
Kamolondo  is  another  large  lake  which  discharges  its 
waters  into  the  Lualaba,  through  a  large  river  called 
the  Loeki,  or  Lomami.  To  this  lake,  which  is  known 
as  Chebungo  by  the  natives,  Livingston  gave  the 
name  of  Lincoln,  in  honor  of  our  martyred  President. 
A  large  river  called  the  Lufira,  flows  into  the  Lualaba, 
a  little  north  of  Lake  Kamolondo  ;  and  many  other 
important  streams  help  to  swell  its  waters,  as  it  sweeps 
through  many  and  crooked  windings  northward  to 
another  great  lake,  which  Livingston  was  unable  to 
reach.  His  Banian  slaves  refused  to  go  on,  fearing 
they  said  to  enter  a  country  where  there  were  no 
Moslems.  He  waited  three  months  for  the  arrival  of 
a  friend  named  Dugumbe,  who  was  on  the  way  from 
Ujiji  with  a  caravan  of  two  hundred  guns  and  nine 
under-traders  with  their  peoole     As  soon  as  he  came. 


POSTSCRIPT.  327 

Livingston  endeavored  to  hire  ten  men  and  a  canoe, 
that  he  might  finish  his  geographical  work  without 
the  Banians.  His  proposition  was  agreed  to,  but  Du- 
giimbe  required  a  few  days  to  consult  his  associates. 
Two  days  after,  June  13th,  a  massacre  was  perpe- 
trated, which  filled  Livingston  with  such  intolerable 
loathing  that  he  resolved  to  yield  to  the  Banian  slaves, 
return  to  Ujiji,  get  men  from  the  coast,  and  try  to 
finish  his  work  by  going  outside  the  area  of  Ujijian 
bloodshed,  instead  of  vainly  trying  from  its  interior 
outwards.  We  quote  at  length  his  description  of  that 
dreadful  affair,  for  the  double  view  it  gives  of  native 
life,  and  the  horrors  of  slave  hunting :  — 

"  Dugumbe's  people  built  their  huts  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Lualaba,  at  a  market  place  called  Nyanwe.  On  hearing  that 
the  head  slave  of  a  trader  at  Ujiji  had,  in  order  to  get  canoes 
cheap,  mixed  blood  with  the  head  men  of  the  Bagenya  on  the 
left  bank,  they  were  disgusted  with  his  assurance,  and  resolved 
to  punish  him  and  make  an  impression  in  the  country  in  favor 
of  their  own  greatness  by  an  assault  on  the  market  people,  and 
on  all  the  Bagenya  who  had  dared  to  make  friendship  with  any 
but  themselves.  Tagamoio,  the  principal  under-trader  of  Du- 
gumbe's party,  was  the  perpetrator.  The  market  was  attended 
every  fourth  day  by  between  two  thousand  and  three  thousand 
people.  It  was  held  on  a  long  slope  of  land  which,  down  at  the 
river,  ended  in  a  creek  capable  of  containing  between  fifty  and 
sixty  large  canoes.  The  majority  of  the  market  people  were 
women,  many  of  them  very  pretty.  The  people  west  of  the  river 
brought  fish,  salt,  pepper,  oil,  grass-cloth,  iron,  fowls,  goats,  sheep, 
pigs,  in  great  numbers,  to  exchange  with  those  cast  of  the  river 
for  cassava  grain,  potatoes,  and  other  farinaceous  products.  They 
have  a  strong  sense  of  natural  justice,  and  all  unite  in  forcing 
each  other  to  fair  dealing.  At  first  my  presence  made  them  all 
afraid,  but  wishing  to  gain  their  confidence,  which  my  enemies 
tried  to  undermine  or  prevent,  I  went  among  them  frequently, 


328  TRAVELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

and  when  they  saw  no  harm  in  me  became  very  gracious ;  the 
bargaining  was  the  finest  acting  I  ever  saw.  I  understood  but 
few  of  the  words  that  flew  off  the  glib  tongues  of  the  women,  but 
their  gestures  spoke  plainly.  I  took  sketches  of  the  fifteen  va- 
rieties of  fish  brought  in,  to  compare  them  with  those  of  the  Nile 
farther  down,  and  all  were  eager  to  tell  their  names.  But  on  the 
date  referred  to  I  had  left  the  market  only  a  minute  or  two  when 
three  men  whom  I  had  seen  with  guns,  and  felt  inclined  to  re- 
prove them  for  bringing  them  into  the  market  place,  but  had 
reiVa-ned  by  attributing  it  to  ignorance  in  new-comers,  began  to 
fire  into  the  dense  crowd  around  them.  Another  party,  down  at 
the  canoes,  rained  their  balls  on  the  panic-struck  multitude  that 
rushed  into  these  vessels.  All  threw  away  their  goods,  the  men 
forgot  their  paddles,  the  canoes  were  jammed  in  the  creek  and 
could  not  be  got  out  quick  enough,  so  many  men  and  women 
sprung  into  the  water.  The  women  of  the  left  bank  are  expert 
divers  for  oysters,  and  a  long  line  of  heads  showed  a  crowd  strik- 
ing out  for  an  island  a  mile  off ;  to  gain  it  they  had  to  turn  the 
left  shoulder  against  a  current  of  between  a  mile  and  a  half  to 
two  miles  an  hour.  Had  they  gone  diagonally  with  the  current, 
though  that  would  have  been  three  miles,  many  would  have 
gained  the  shore.  It  was  horrible  to  see  one  head  after  another 
disappear,  some  calmly,  others  throwing  their  arms  high  up  to- 
wards the  Great  Father  of  all,  and  going  down.  Some  of  the 
men  who  got  canoes  out  of  the  crowd  paddled  quick,  with  hands 
and  arms,  to  help  their  friends;  three  took  people  in  till  they 
all  sank  together.  One  man  had  clearly  lost  his  head,  for  he 
paddled  a  canoe,  which  would  have  held  fifty  people,  s'raight  up 
stream  nowhere.  The  Arabs  estimated  the  loss  at  between  four 
and  five  hundred  souls.  Dugumbe  sent  out  some  of  his  men  in 
one  of  thirty  canoes,  which  the  owners  in  their  fright  could  not 
extricate,  to  save  the  sinking.  One  lady  refused  to  be  taken  on 
board  because  she  thought  that  she  was  to  be  made  a  slave  ;  but 
l.e  rescued  twenty-one,  and  of  his  own  accord  sent  them  next 
day  home.  Many  escaped  and  came  to  me,  and  were  restored 
to  their  friends.  When  the  firing  began  on  the  terror-stricken 
crowd  at  the  canoes,  Tagamoio's  band  began  their  assault  on  the 
people  on  the  west  of  the  river,  and  continued  the  fire  all  day 


POSTSCRIPT.  329 

1  counted  seventeen  villages  in  flames,  and  next  day  six.  Du- 
gumbe's  power  over  the  underlings  is  limited,  but  he  ordered 
them  to  cease  shooting.  Those  in  the  market  were  so  reckless 
they  shot  two  of  their  own  number.  Tagamoio's  crew  came  back 
next  day,  in  canoes,  shouting  and  firing  off  their  guns  as  if  be- 
lieving that  they  were  worthy  of  renown. 

"  Next  day  about  twenty  head  men  fled  from  the  west  bank 
and  came  to  my  house.  There  was  no  occasion  now  to  tell  them 
that  the  English  had  no  desire  for  human  blood.  They  begged 
hard  that  \  should  go  over  with  them  and  settle  with  them,  and 
arrange  where  the  new  dwellings  of  each  should  be.  I  was  so 
ashamed  of  the  bloody  Moslem  company  in  which  I  found  myself 
that  I  was  unable  to  look  at  the  Manyema.  I  confessed  my  grief 
and  shame,  and  was  entreated,  if  I  must  go,  not  to  leave  them 
now.  Dugumbe  spoke  kindly  to  them,  and  would  protect  them 
as  well  as  he  could  against  his  own  people  ;  but  when  I  went  to 
Tagamoio  to  ask  back  the  wives  and  daughters  of  some  of  the 
head  men,  he  always  ran  off  and  hid  himself. 

u  This  massacre  was  the  most  terrible  scene  I  ever  saw.  I  can- 
not describe  my  feelings,  and  am  thankful  that  I  did  not  give 
way  to  them,  but  by  Dugumbe's  advice,  avoided  a  bloody  feud 
with  men  who,  for  the  time,  seemed  turned  into  demons.  The 
whole  transaction  was  the  more  deplorable,  inasmuch  as  we  have 
always  heard  from  the  Manyema  that  though  the  men  of  the  dis- 
tricts may  be  engaged  in  actual  hostilities,  the  women  pass  from 
one  market  place  to  another  with  their  wares,  and  were  never 
known  to  be  molested.  The  change  has  come  only  with  these 
alien  bloodhounds,  and  all  the  bloodshed  has  taken  place  in 
order  that  captives  might  be  seized  where  it  could  be  done  with- 
out danger,  and  in  order  that  the  slaving  privileges  of  a  petty 
sultan  should  produce  abundant  fruit." 

Heartsore  and  depressed  in  spirit  by  these  terrible 
instances  of  "  man's  inhumanity  to  man,"  Livingston 
turned  his  back  on  the  object  of  his  hopes,  and  started 
on  a  long  and  weary  tramp  to  Ujiji,  under  a  blazing 
tropical  sun.  Almost  every  step  of  those  wretched 
five  hundred  miles  was  in  pain.     "  I  felt  as  if  dying 


530  TRAVELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

on  my  feet/'  he  writes  ;  and  he  came  very  near  death 
in  a  more  summary  way. 

Outrage  after  outrage  was  heaped  on  the  poor 
Manyema  people  by  the  trading  companies  until  they 
could  endure  it  no  longer.  As  soon  as  trouble  began 
the  scattered  camps  of  ivory  seekers  begged  to  be 
taken  into  Livingston's  company,  and  he  could  not 
refuse  them.  No  more  could  he  restrain  their  ex- 
cesses, or  escape  sharing  the  blame  of  them.  On  one 
occasion  the  party  had  to  pass  through  five  hours  of 
forest  thronged  with  exasperated  natives,  bent  on  re- 
venging the  enslavement  and  death  of  their  relatives. 
The  vegetation  was  so  dense  that  they  could  not  see 
their  foes. 

"  Our  people  in  front  peered  into  every  little  opening  in  the 
dense  thicket  before  they  would  venture  past  it ;  this  detained 
the  rear,  and  two  persons  near  to  me  were  slain.  A  large  spear 
lunged  past  close  behind  ;  another  missed  me  by  about  a  foot  in 
front.  Coming  to  a  part  of  the  forest  of  about  a  hundred  yards 
cleared  for  cultivation,  I  observed  that  fire  had  been  applied  to 
one  of  the  gigantic  trees,  made  still  higher  by  growing  on  an 
ant-hill  twenty  or  more  feet  high.  Hearing  the  crack  that  told 
the  fire  had  eaten  through,  I  felt  that  there  was  no  danger,  it 
looked  so  far  away,  till  it  appeared  coming  right  down  toward 
me.  I  ran  a  few  paces  back,  and  it  came  to  the  ground  only  one 
yard  off,  broke  in  several  lengths,  and  covered  me  with  a  cloud 
of  dust.  My  attendants  ran  back,  exclaiming,  'Pence,  pei 
you  will  finish  your  work  in  spite  of  all  these  people,  and  in 
6pite  of  everything.'  I,  too,  took  it  as  an  omen  of  good  that  I 
had  three  narrow  escapes  from  death  in  one  day. 

"  The  Manyema  are  expert  at  throwing  the  spear,  and  as  I 
had  a  glance  of  him  whose  spear  missed  by  less  than  an  inch 
behind,  and  he  was  not  ten  yards  off,  I  was  saved  clearly  by  the 
^ood  hand  of  the  Almighty  Preserver  of  men.  I  can  say  this 
devoutly  now,  but  in  running  the  terrible  gauntlet  for  five  weary 


POSTSCRIPT.  331 

nours  .among  furies  all  eager  to  signalize  themselves  by  slaying 
one  they  sincerely  believed  to  have  been  guilty  of  a  horrid  out- 
rage, no  elevated  sentiments  entered  the  mind.  The  excitement 
gave  way  to  overpowering  weariness,  and  I  felt  as  I  suppose  sol- 
dier?, do  on  the  field  of  battle  —  not  courageous,  but  perfectly 
indiiferent  Avhether  I  were  killed  or  not." 

The  abject  condition  of  the  illustrious  explorer  on 
his  return  to  Ujiji  has  already  been  described.  The 
results  of  the  years  of  unparalleled  labor  and  suffering 
which  he  has  undergone  since  he  disappeared  from  the 
ken  of  civilization,  he  sums  up  briefly  as  follows  :  — 

"  I  have  ascertained  that  the  water-shed  of  the  Nile  is  a  broad 
upland  between  ten  degrees  and  twelve  degrees  south  latitude, 
and  from  4,000  to  5,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Moun- 
tains stand  on  it  at  various  points,  which,  though  not  apparently 
very  high,  are  between  6,000  and  7,000  feet  of  actual  altitude. 
The  water-shed  is  over  700  miles  in  length,  from  west  to  east. 
The  springs  that  rise  on  it  are  almost  innumerable  —  that  is,  it 
would  take  a  large  part  of  a  man's  life  to  count  them.  A  bird's- 
eye  view  of  some  parts  of  the  water-shed  would  resemble  the  frost 
vegetation  on  window  panes.  They  all  begin  in  an  ooze  at  the 
head  of  a  slightly  depressed  valley.  A  few  hundred  yards  down, 
the  quantity  of  water  from  oozing  earthen  sponge  forms  a  brisk 
perennial  burn  or  brook  a  few  feet  broad,  and  deep  enough  to  re- 
quire a  bridge.  These  are  the  ultimate  or  primary  sources  of  the 
great  rivers  that  flow  to  the  north  in  the  great  Nile  valley.  The 
primaries  unite  and  form  streams  in  general  larger  than  the  Isis 
at  Oxford,  or  Avon  at  Hamilton,  and  may  be  called  secondary 
sources.  They  never  dry,  but  unite  again  into  four  large  lines  of 
drainage,  the  head  waters  or  mains  of  the  river  of  Egypt.  These 
four  are  each  called  by  the  natives  Lualaba,  which,  if  not  too  pe- 
dantic, may  be  spoken  of  as  lacustrine  rivers,  extant  specimens  of 
those  which,  in  prehistoric  times,  abounded  in  Africa,  and  which 
in  the  south  are  still  called  by  Bechuanas  '  Melapo,'  in  the  north, 
by  Arabs,  '  Wadys,'  both  words  meaning  the  same  thing  —  river 
bed  in  which  no  water  ever  now  flows.     Two  of  the  four  great 


332  TRAVELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

rivers  mentioned  fall  into  the  central  Lualaba,  or  Webb's  Lake 
River,  and  then  we  have  but  two  main  lines  of  drainage  as  de- 
picted nearly  by  Ptolemy. 

"  The  prevailing  winds  on  the  water-shed  are  from  the  southeast. 
This  is  easily  observed  by  the  direction  of  the  branches,  and  the 
humidity  of  the  climate  is  apparent  in  the  numbers  of  lichens 
which  make  the  upland  forest  look  like  the  mangrove  swamps  on 
the  coast. 

"  In  passing  over  sixty  miles  of  latitude,  I  waded  thirty-two  pri- 
mary sources  from  calf  to  waist  deep,  and  requiring  from  twenty 
minutes  to  an  hour  and  a  quarter  to  cross  stream  and  sponge. 
This  would  give  about  one  source  to  every  two  miles. 

"  A  Suaheli  friend,  in  passing  along  part  of  the  Lake  Bangweolo. 
during  six  days  counted  twenty-two  from  thigh  to  waist  deep. 
This  lake  is  on  the  water-shed,  for  the  village  at  which  I  observed 
on  its  northwest  shore  was  a  few  seconds  into  eleven  degrees 
south,  and  its  southern  shores,  and  springs,  and  rivulets,  are  cer- 
tainly in  twelve  degrees  south.  I  tried  to  cross  it  in  order  to 
measure  the  breadth  accurately.  The  first  stage  to  an  inhabited 
island  was  about  twenty-four  miles.  From  the  highest  point 
here  the  tops  of  the  trees,  evidently  lifted  by  the  mirage,  could 
be  seen  on  the  second  stage  and  the  third  stage ;  the  mainland 
was  said  to  be  as  far  as  this  beyond  it.  But  my  canoe  men  had 
stolen  the  canoe  and  got  a  hint  that  the  real  owners  were  in  pur- 
suit, and  got  into  a  flurry  to  return  home.  '  They  would  come 
back  for  me  in  a  few  days,  truly,'  but  I  had  only  my  coverlet 
left  to  hire  another  craft  if  they  should  leave  me  in  this  wide  ex- 
panse of  water,  and  being  4,000  feet  above  the  sea  it  was  very 
cold  ;  so  I  returned. 

"  The  length  of  this  lake  is,  at  a  very  moderate  estimate.  150 
miles.  It  gives  forth  a  large  body  of  water  in  the  Luapula ;  yet 
lakes  are  in  no  sense  sources,  for  no  large  river  begins  in  a  lake ; 
but  this  and  others  serve  an  important  purpose  iu  the  phenomena 
of  the  Nile.  It  is  one  large  lake,  and  (unlike  the  Okara,  which, 
according  to  Suaheli,  who  travelled  long  in  OUT  company,  If  three 
or  four  lakes  run  into  one  huge  Victoria  Nyanza)  gives  out  a 
large  river,  which,  on  departing  out  of  Moero,  is  still  larger. 
These  men  had   spent   many  years   east  of   Okara,  and  could 


POSTSCRIPT.  333 

scarcely  be  mistaken  in  saying  that  of  the  three  or  four  lakes 
there,  only  one  (the  Okara)  gives  off  its  waters  to  the  north.  .  .  . 

"  The  great  river,  Webb's  Lualaba,  in  the  centre  of  the  Nile 
valley,  makes  a  great  bend  to  the  west,  soon  after  leaving  Lake 
Moero,  of  at  least  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  ;  then,  turning 
to  the  north  for  some  distance,  it  makes  another  large  sweep 
west  of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  in  the  course  of 
which  about  thirty  miles  of  southing  are  made ;  it  then  draws 
around  to  northeast,  receives  the  Lomani,  or  Loeki,  a  large  river 
which  flows  through  Lake  Lincoln.  After  the  union  a  large  lake 
is  formed,  with  many  inhabited  islands  in  it ;  but  this  has  still 
to  be  explored.  It  is  the  fourth  large  lake  in  the  central  line 
of  drainage,  and  cannot  be  Lake  Albert ;  for,  assuming  Speke's 
longitude  of  Ujiji  to  be  pretty  correct,  and  my  reckoning  not 
enormously  wrong,  the  great  central  lacustrine  river  is  about  five 
degrees  west  of  Upper  and  Lower  Tanganyika.  .  .  . 

"  Beyond  the  fourth  lake  the  water  passes,  it  is  said,  into  large 
reedy  lakes,  and  is  in  all  probability  Petherick's  branch  —  the 
main  stream  of  the  Nile  —  in  distinction  from  the  smaller  eastern 
arm  which  Speke,  Grant,  and  Baker  took  to  be  the  river  of 
Egypt1 

**  The  Manyema  could  give  no  information  about  their  country 
because  they  never  travel.     Blood  feuds  often  prevent  them  from 

1  Dr.  Charles  Beke  and  others,  widely  known  in  connection  with  Afri- 
can geography,  dispute  the  possibility  of  any  connection  between  the  Lua- 
laba and  the  Nile,  certainly  through  Petherick's  branch.  It  is,  they  say, 
a  question  of  fact,  not  of  theory.  Since  Livingston  left  England  a  German 
botanist,  Dr.  G.  Sehweinfurth,  has  explored  the  basin  of  the  western  arm 
of  the  Nile,  proving  it  to  be  not  the  "main  branch,"  as  Livingston  sup- 
poses. Dr.  Sehweinfurth  claims  not  only  to  have  visited  "  Petherick's 
Nile  "  —  the  river  Djur  —  but  to  have  passed  beyond  it,  finding  in  latitude 
3  35'  north,  and  longitude  28°  east,  a  large  river,  the  Uelle,  running  di- 
rectly across  the  course  which  Livingston  supposes  the  Lualaba  to  take. 
Having  its  course  on  the  western  side  of  the  Blue  Mountains,  flanking  the 
Alourt  Nyanza  on  the  northwest,  somewhere  about  latitude  2'  north,  and 
longitude  30°  east,  the  Uelle  runs  from  east  to  west,  and  is  supposed  to  be 
the  upper  course  of  the  Shary,  running  into  Lake  Chad.  Such  a  river,  in 
such  a  position  and  with  such  a  course,  it  is  said,  must  shut  up  the  basin  of 
the  Nile  in  that  direction,  and  preclude  the  passage  into  it  of  any  waters 
from  the  south. 


334  TRAVELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

visiting  villages  three  or  four  miles  off,  and  many  at  a  distance  of 
about  thirty  miles  did  not  know  the  great  river,  though  named 
to  them.  No  traders  had  gone  so  far  as  I  had,  and  their  people 
cared  only  lor  ivory. 

"  In  my  attempts  to  penetrate  further  and  further,  T  had  but  lit- 
tle hope  of  ultimate  success,  for  the  great  amount  of  westing  led  to 
a  continued  effort  to  suspend  the  judgment,  lest,  after  all,  I  might 
be  exploring  the  Congo  instead  of  the  Nile,  and  it  was  only  after 
the  two  great  western  drains  fell  into  the  central  main,  and  left 
but  the  two  great  lacustrine  rivers  of  Ptolemy,  that  I  felt  pretty 
sure  of  being  on  the  right  track." 

Soon  after  Mr.  Stanley's  arrival  at  Ujiji,  he  pro- 
posed an  expedition  to  the  northern  end  of  Tangany- 
ika, to  settle  the  disputed  question  of  its  relation  to 
the  Albert  Nyanza.  Though  sorely  weakened  by 
disease,  and  much  cast  down  by  the  disappointments 
of  his  last  journey  and  the  outrageous  robbery  of  his 
supplies,  Livingston  heartily  seconded  the  proposition, 
and  instantly  set  about  making  ready  for  the  start. 
A  canoe  was  procured,  and  by  means  of  the  supplies 
which  Mr.  Stanley  had  brought,  a  company  was  soon 
organized  and  equipped  for  what  proved  to  be  a  rare 
pleasure  excursion  to  the  travel  worn  explorer.  Dis- 
covering that  the  Rusizi,  the  river  at  the  end  of  the 
lake,  flowed  into  instead  of  out  of  Tanganyika,  and 
finding  no  outlet  in  that  direction,  the  party  returned 
from  their  month's  cruise  satisfied  that  Tanganyika 
was  of  no  interest,  except  in  a  very  remote  degree,  in 
connection  with  the  sources  of  the  Nile. 

On  Mr.  Stanley's  return  to  the  coast,  Dr.  Living- 
ston accompanied  him  as  far  as  Unyanyembe,  where 
he  remained  until  Mr.  Stanley  should  be  able  to  send 
him  men  and  supplies  from  the  coast.     On  the  receipt 


POSTSCRIPT.  335 

of  these  his  purpose  was  to  set  off  immediately  for  the 
prosecution  of  his  great  work. 

"  It  is  only  a  sense  of  duty,  which  I  trust  your  lordship  will  ap- 
prove," he  writes  to  Earl  Granville,  "  that  makes  me  remain,  and 
if  possible  finish  the  geographical  question  of  my  mission.  After 
being  thwarted,  baffled,  robbed,  worried  almost  to  death  in  fol- 
loAving  the  central  line  of  drainage  down,  I  have  a  sore  longing 
foi  home  ;  have  had  a  perfect  surfeit  of  seeing  strange,  new  lands 
and  people,  grand  mountains,  lovely  valleys,  the  glorious  vegeta- 
tion of  primeval  forests,  wild  beasts,  and  an  endless  succession  of 
beautiful  man;  besides  great  rivers  and  vast  lakes  —  the  last 
most  interesting  from  their  huge  outflowings,  which  explain  some 
of  the  phenomena  of  the  grand  old  Nile." 

His  plan  of  operation  for  the  coming  years  he 
sketches  as  follows  :  — 

"I  shall  at  present  avoid  Ujiji,  and  go  about  southwest  from 
this  to  Fipa,  which  is  east  of  and  near  the  south  end  of  Tanga- 
nyika ;  then  round  the  same  south  end,  only  touching  it  again  at 
Pambette;  thence  resuming  the  southwest  course  to  cross  the 
Chambeze,  and  proceed  alone  to  the  southern  shores  of  Lake 
Bangweolo,  which  being  in  latitude  twelve  degrees  south,  the 
course  will  be  due  west  to  the  ancient  fountains  of  Herodotus. 
From  them  it  is  about  ten  days  north  to  Katanga,  the  copper 
mines  of  which  have  been  worked  for  ages.  The  malachite  ore 
is  described  as  so  abundant  it  can  only  be  mentioned  by  the  coal- 
heavers'  phrase  '  practically  inexhaustible.' 

"  About  ten  days  northeast  of  Katanga  very  extensive  under- 
ground rock  excavations  deserve  attention  as  very  ancient,  the 
natives  ascribing  their  formation  to  the  Deity  alone.  They  are 
remarkable  for  all  having  water  laid  on  in  running  streams,  and 
the  inhabitants  of  large  districts  can  all  take  refuge  in  them  in 
•jase  of  invasion.  Returning  from  them  to  Katanga,  twelve  days 
\iorth-northwest,  take  to  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Lincoln.  I 
wish  to  go'  down  through  it  to  the  Lomani,  and  into  Webb's  Lu- 
tlaba,  and  home." 

Nothing  remains  but  to  speak  of  the  English  Search 


336  TRA  VELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

and  Relief  Expedition.  Its  work  was  forestalled.  Be- 
fore it  was  ready  to  leave  the  coast,  Mr.  Stanley  arrived 
with  the  unexpected  intelligence  that  Livingston  had 
been  found  and  relieved,  and  bearing  a  letter  from 
Livingston  directing  the  return  of  any  company  that 
might  be  on  the  way  with  men  or  supplies  for  him. 
With  no  one  to  search  for  and  no  one  to  relieve,  the 
members  of  the  English  Expedition  did  the  only  thing 
left  for  them  to  do  —  they  disbanded  and  returned. 


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"A  Jolly  Fellowship"  is  the 
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destined  to  be  a  source  of  perennial  delight  to  generation  after  generation  of  children.  It 
tells  of  life  in  Holland,  a  country  which  changes  so  little  that  a  story  of  people  who 
lived  there  twenty  years  ago  might  be  told  of  to-day  as  well ;  and  it  is  marked  through 
out  by  a  vivacity,  a  freshness,  and  a  healthy  vigor,  which  goes  straight  to  the  heart  o« 
every  reader,  whether  he  be  old  or  young. 


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A  Charming  New  Volume  for  Girls  and  Boys. 


RHYMES  AND  JINGLES. 

A  Xeiv  Edition,  with  addition.*  and  New  Illustration*. 
One  Vol.,  Small  Quarto.     Cloth,  ___--_  $1.50 


Mrs.  MARY  MAPES  DODGE  is  not  only  one  of  the  best  editors  of  young  people's 
literature,  but  one  of  the  best  of  living  writers  for  children.  Her  "Hans  Brinker"  in 
prose,  and  her  many  songs  and  brief-rhymed  stories  have  been  among  the  most  popular 
writings  of  their  kind  ever  published  in  America. 

In  the  present  volume  the  child-poems  by  her,  which  have  had  the  free  range  of  the 
newspaper  press  for  many  years,  are  now  brought  together  for  the  first  time.  Thousands 
of  children  who  have  learned  not  a  few  of  these  verses  by  heart  will  now,  for  the  first 
time,  discover  the  name  of  their  author.  "  Rhymes  and  Jingles  "  are  not  written  about 
children  but  for  them,  and  some  of  them  have  been  pronounced  "without  rivals  in  our 
language."     Every  child  should  have  a  copy  of  these  witty  and  beautiful  verses. 


*  if  For  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  will  be  sent,  prepaid,  upon  receipt  of  price,  by 

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Noah  Brooks'  Books  for  Boys, 


THE  FAIRPORT  NINE. 

By   NOAH   BROOKS. 

One  Vol.,  12mo.     Handsomely  hound,  -  $1.00 


Like  Mr.  Brooks's  Jioy  Emigrants,  this  is  a  story  of  American  boys.  Although  it 
treats  of  a  base-ball  club,  it  is  by  no  means  exclusively  devoted  to  the  chronicles  of 
the  game. 

The  Fairport  Nine  have  their  closely  contested  matches  with  the  "White  Bears," 
and  the  description  will  bring  vividly  before  every  lover  of  that  manly  sport  similar 
scenes  in  which  he  has  shared.  But  they  also  have  their  Fourth  of  July  frolic,  their 
military  company,  their  camp  in  the  woods,  and  the  finding  of  hidden  treasure  with 
many  boyish  episodes,  in  which  are  faithfully  portrayed  the  characteristic  features  of 
American  boys'  life  in  the  country.  It  is  a  capital  story,  with  a  manly  and  healthful 
tone,  and  will  go  straight  to  a  boy's  heart. 


THE  BOY  EMIGRANTS.     ; 

By   NOAH    BROOKS. 

One  Vol.,  12mo.,  cloth.     New  Edition,  -----  $1.50 

WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY  THOMAS  MORAN,  W.  L.  SHEPPARD,  and  others. 


The  Boy  Emigrants  is  a  story  of  the  adventures  of  a  party  of  young  gold  seekers  on 
the  Overland  Emigrant  Route,  and  in  California,  during  the  early  rush  to  the  mines. 
Since  the  author  was  himself  an  emigrant  of  this  description,  the  scenes  and  incident* 
are  drawn  from  life,  and  the  book  may  be  accepted  as  a  fresh  and  vivid  picture  of  life 
on  the  Plains  and  in  the  mines  from  an  entirely  novel  point  of  view. 

While  the  story  is  not  designed  to  be  a  history,  it  reproduces  in  a  graphic  and 
spirited  manner  the  wonderful  and  exceptional  phases  of  the  life  of  which  it  treats. 
The  illustrations  by  Moran,  Sheppard,  and  other  artists,  give  additional  attractiveness 
to  the  book. 

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CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S    SONS.   PUBLISHERS, 

743  and  745  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK. 


''One  of  the  most  attractive  narratives  for  lads  that  has  been  written  in  many 
day.     It  is  clean,  breezy  and  natural. — N.  Y.  Home  Journal. 


DAB  KINZER. 

A    STORY    OF    A    GROWING    BOY. 
By  WILLIAM   O.   STODDARD. 

One   Vol.,  12»io,  330  pages,  -  -  _____  $1.01 


Dab  Kinzer  is  one  of  the  delightful  tales  that  worthily  takes  rank  with  "  Phaetoi 
Rogers,"  "A  Jolly  Fellowship,"  or  "Hans  Brinker."  There  is  abundant  opportunity 
for  boy-heroism  and  manly  adventure  in  the  nautical  expeditions  of  Dab  and  his  friends 
and  the  triumphs  and  achievements  as  well  as  the  trials  and  tribulations  of  boy-lif( 
furnish  ample  diversity  of  plot  and  incident. 


CRITICAL.    NOTICES. 


ik  A  really  good  story  for  boys  is  a  good  story  for  anybody  and  everybody.  Just  such  is  furnishec 
in  the  volume  before  us." — Davenport  Gazette. 

"It  fairly  brims  over  with  humor,  and  it  is  as  breezy  all  through  as  the  Long  Island  shore  whereoi 
Dab  Kinzer  lived.'1 — American  Rural  Home. 

"  The  book  is  enlivened  with  a  racy  and  genuine  humor.  It  is,  moreover,  notably  healthy  in  it! 
tone,  and  in  every  way  is  just  the  thing  for  boys." — Philadelphia  North  American. 

"  It  is  full  of  fun,  liveliness,  and  entertainment.  Dab  Kinzer  will  be  voted  a  good  fellow,  wheth- 
er at  home,  at  school,  or  out  fishing." — Portland  Press. 

"  It  is  written  in  that  peculiarly  happy  vein  which  enchants  while  it  instructs,  and  is  one  of  thost 
thoroughly  excellent  bits  of  juvenile  literature  which  now  and  then  crop  out  from  the  surface  of  a  mass 
of  common-place."— Philadelphia  Press. 

"  In  a  literary  point  of  view,  we  are  inclined  to  rank  this  book  among  the  first  of  its  kind  *  *  * 
A  father  who  wants  his  boy  to  grow  up  in  a  manly  way,  may  find  in  such  books  something  to  help  hiro 
amazingly," —Christian  Intelligencer. 


Uniform,  with  "  Dab  Kinzer." 


THE  QUARTET. 

A    SEQUEL    TO    DAB    KINZER. 
By  WILLIAM   O.   STODDARD. 

One  Vol.,  12mo,  330  pages,  _  ______  $  1  MO 


Mr.  Stoddard's  Dab  Kinzer  proved  so  popular,  both  as  a  serial  and  in  book  form, 
that  he  has  published  a  sequel  to  that  story  which  gives  Dab  a  good  education  and  a 
wife.      Nothing   in  juvenile  literature    can    excel   the    healthful    manly  quality  of  these 

stories. 

***For  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  will  be  sent,  prepaid,  upon  receipt  of  price,  ly 

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TRAVEL,   HISTORY,   SCIENCE  AND   ART. 

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JAPAN  IN  OUR  DAY. 
TRAVELS  IN  ARABIA. 
TRAVELS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 
CENTRAL  ASIA. 


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THE    LAKE    REGIONS    OF     CENTRAL 

AFRICA. 
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ELEPHANT. 

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EPOCHS   OF    HISTORY. 

M  These  volumes  contain  the  ripe  results  of  the  studies  0/  men  who  are  authorities  in  their  re* 
spective jfields" — The  Nation. 


EPOCHS  OF   MODERN   HISTORY. 

THE  ERA  OF  PROTESTANT  REVOLU- 
TION. 

THE  CRUSADES. 

THE  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR,  1618-1648. 

THE  HOUSES  OF  LANCASTER  &  YORK. 

-HE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION  AND 
FIRST  EMPIRE. 

THE  AGE  OF  ELIZABETH. 

THE  FALL  OF  THE  STUARTS. 

THE  PURITAN  REVOLUTION. 

THE  EARLY  PLANTAGENETS. 

AGE  OF  ANNE. 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  MIDDLE 
AGES. 

THE  NORMANS  IN  EUROPE. 

FREDERICK  THE  GREAT  AND  THE 
SEVEN  YEARS'  WAR. 


EPOCHS  OF  ANCIENT  HISTORY. 
THE  GREEKS  AND  THE  PERSIANS. 
THE  ATHENIAN  EMPIRE. 
THE  MACEDONIAN  EMPIRE. 
EARLY   ROME. 

THE  GRACCHI  MARIUS  AND  SULLA. 
THE  ROMAN  TRIUMVIRATES. 
THE  EARLY  EMPIRE. 
THE  AGE  OF  THE  ANTONINES. 
TROY. 
ROME  AND  CARTHAGE. 


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ILLUSTRATED  LIBRARY  OF  WONDERS. 


The  First  Series  Comprises 


Illus. 

WONDERFUL  ESCAPES 26 

BODILY  STRENGTH  AND  SKILL 70 

BALLOON    ASCENTS 30 

GREAT  HUNTS i-x 

EGYPT  3,300  YEARS  AGO 40 

THE  SUN.      By  Guillemin   58 

WONDERS  OF  HEAT 93 

OPTICAL  WONDERS 71 

WONDERS  OF  ACOUSTICS 110 

THE  HEAVENS 48 


III** 

THE  HUMAN  BODY « 

THE  SUBLIME  IN    NATURE 4- 

INTELLIGENCE  OF  ANIMALS   * 

THUNDER  AND  LIGHTNING * 

BOTTOM  OF  THE  SEA Si 

ITALIAN   ART   al 

EUROPEAN  ART. 4c 

ARCHITECTURE & 

GLASS-MAKING 6- 

WONDERS  OF  POMPEII * 


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JULES   VERNE'S   GREATEST   WORK. 


THE  EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WORLX 


Three  Volumes  8vo    Extra  Cloth,  with  lOO  Full-page  Engravings  in  each. 
Price,  $3.50  per  Volume. 


In  this  chief  of  his  works,  M.  Jules  Verne  has  set  himself  to  tell  the  story  of  all  tl 
most  stirring  adventures  of  which  we  have  any  written  record,  —  to  give  the  histor 
41  from  the  time  of  Hanno  and  Herodotus  down  to  that  of  Livingstone  and  Stanley,"  i 
those  voyages  of  exploration  and  discovery  which  are  among  the  most  thrilling  episodi 
in  the  history  of  human  enterprise.  In  short,  M.  Verne  has  chosen  for  his  most  importai 
book  the  only  subject  which  he  could  make  surpass  his  own  vivid  and  realistic  stories  i 
absorbing  interest :  to  the  treatment  of  such  material  he  brings  all  the  dash  and  viv: 
picturesqueness  of  his  own  creations,  and  it  may  be  imagined  that  he  makes  a  boc 
worth  reading. 

The  plan  of  the  work  is  so  valuable  that  it  is  a  matter  for  surprise  that  such  a  hist< 
ry  has  never  been  undertaken  before.  To  trace  connectedly  the  progress  of  discovery,  s 
M.  Verne  does,  from  the  time  when  the  world  was  a  very  small  circle  indeed,  surround* 
by  the  densest  of  outer  darkness,  and  when  the  Carthagenian  navigators  ventured  timid 
out  of  the  Mediterranean,  is  to  gain  an  altogether  new  idea  of  the  daring  and  skill  th; 
has  been  expended  in  this  one  direction.  It  is  a  worthy  subject  for  the  most  ambitiot 
work  of  such  a  writer. 

The  work  includes  three  divisions,  each  in  one  volume  complete  in  itself, — 

I.  FAMOUS  TRAVELS  AND  TRAVELLERS. 
II.  THE  GREAT  NAVIGATORS. 

III.  THE  EXPLORERS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURA 

Each  volume  in  the  series  is  very  fully  illustrated  with  full-page  engravings  by  Frenc 
artists  of  note;  and  the  volume  of  "FAMOUS  TRAVELS"  is  made  still  more  interes 
ing  by  many  fac-similes  from  the  original  prints  in  old  voyages,  atlases,  etc. 


"  The  Prince  of  Story-tellers.''''  —  LONDON  TlMKS. 


THE    WORKS    OF    JULES    VERNE 

PUBLISHED  BY  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 

THE    COMPLETE    AND    AUTHORIZED    EDITIONS. 


The  following  works  of  M.  Jules  Verne  are  published  by  Messrs.  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  by  a 
rangement  with  Messrs.  Sampson  Low  &  Co.  of  I  ondon,  in  accordance  with  the  right  ceded  to  them  t 
MM.  Hetzel  &  Co.,  the  publishers  of  M.  Verne's  works  in  the  original  French  edition.  These  volunv 
contain  all  the  illustrations  of  the  French  edition,  and  are  the  only  complete  and  authorized  books  of  R 
Jules  Verne  published  in  this  country. 

MICHAEL  STROGOFF;  or,  The  Courier  of  the  Czar.  One  vol.  8 vo  .  .  .  $3  < 
A  FLOATING   CITY   AND  THE   BLOCKADE   RUNNERS.     One  vol.  8vo         ..3c 

DICK   SANDS.     One  vol.  8vo 3  < 

A  JOURNEY   TO   THE   CENTRE   OF   THE   EARTH.     One  vol.  i2mo         .         .         .  3< 

THE    MYSTERIOUS   ISLAND.     The  complete  work  in  one  volume,  with  150  illustrat  ons,  3  c 

HECTOR   SERVADAC.     One  vol.  8vo 3  c 

STORIES   OF   ADVENTURE.     One  vol.  i2mo 1  = 

FROM   THE   EARTH   TO   THE   MOON   Direct  in   Ninety-seven   Hours,   Tw  nty 

Minutes,  and  a  Journey  Around  it.  One  vol.  i2mo.  Price  reduced  to  .  .  1  « 
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riGERS  AND  TRAITORS.    Being  Part  Second  of  THE  STEAM  HOUSE.    One  vol.  izmo,  1  \ 


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JULES   VERNE'S   LATEST   STORY. 


The  Giant  Raft.      Part  [. 


iIGHT-HUNDRED  LEAGUES 


ON    THE    AMAZON. 

)ne  Vol.,  Square  t9mof  Mactra  cloth.       - 

WITH  FIFTY  FULL  PAGE  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


St.so 


THB    START   OF   THE   JURGADA. 

The  series  of  volumes  which  Jules  Verne  has  brought  out  with  the  view  of  giving 
in  orderly  account  of  the  great  voyages  and  explorations  of  all  times  is  completed  with 
The  Mxplorers  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  In  addition  to  this  volume,  a  new  work 
>y  the  same  author  is  in  course  of  publication.  It  is  entitled  The  (Hunt  Raft,  and  its 
icene  is  laid  in  South  America,  the  title  of  the  first  part  being  "  tight  Hundred  I.<  atjum 
tn  the  Amazon."  Like  the  recent  "Steam  House,"  it  is  adorned  with  many  spirited  illus- 
rations  by  French  artists,  and  has  all  the  wonderful  interest  of  scenery  and  incident 
vhich  Jules  Verne  knows  how  to  put  into  all  his  books. 


rv 


***  For  sale  by  all  booksellers,  or  ivill  b;  sent,  pre-paid,  upon  receipt  of  pru 

Charles  Scribner's  Sons.  Publishers 

743  and  745  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK. 


M297215 


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